Light for Everyone - a TLK Fanfiction
by Alex Draco
Summary: Kiara and Kovu have grown into full adults and soon-to-be rulers of the Pridelands. But when Kiara trespasses into the Elephant Graveyard, she is appalled at the hyenas' misery. Must an exile last forever? Is there no possible compassion for outcasts? And is a reunification still possible in front of a common and terrible new foe? Rated T for mild profanity and dark undertone.
1. Trespassers

**LIGHT FOR EVERYONE - ****A Lion King fanfiction**

* * *

_"He who, through some alchemy, can extract from his heart to merge them back together, compassion, respect, need, patience, regret, surprise, and forgiveness creates this atom called Love."_

Khalil Gibran

* * *

**Chapter One : Trespassers**

* * *

High in the skies, the blazing disc of the rising sun was performing his eternal ritual, enshrouding the Pridelands within its fiery shape and accompanying the first noises of dawn.

At the top of a tree, a colorful hornbill issued a long single note as a salute to the new sun, and then plunged towards the ground and an invisible insect. Not far away, a termite colony was already brooding in silence, like a whole miniature city which thrived, unaware of the existence of the external world, and of the vulture hovering above like a feathered vampire.

At the same time, a cheetah stretched lazily on top of another tree, and decided, after a moment of hesitation, to give himself a few more minutes of respite. In the distance resounded the dramatic roar of a lion.

Like every morning of creation, nature was slowly awakening, quietly snorting after a night of sleep and dreams. But this morning, something insidious was about to strike at its core.

* * *

Banzai marked a pause in the middle of the high grass, raising an anxious glance towards the glowing sun. Time was of the essence... To his kin, the sun was a false friend, capable of betraying you at any moment, just like Scar the Forsaken had done in the past ... And especially when you found yourself forced to trespass into a territory where a hyena was likely to be killed on sight. But it had to be done; every now and then, a matter of life or death could push you to do foolish things; and truth be said, it had mostly been a matter of death for his clan, as of late.

His litter brother, another hyena named Ed, was mopping just behind, a perpetually psychotic smile plastered onto his muzzle.

"Move your ass, Ed ... We gotta be quick." Banzai whispered at his twin's address, to which Ed replied with an hysterical laughter. Ed may have looked idiot, but he was far from it; he simply had absences. And in his case, guffawing madly had always been easier than actually talking…

Banzai cringed at his laughter. "Yeah ... you won't be laughing when one of 'em lions sends his claws up your buttocks, genius… So knock it off, and follow me..." he replied. Ed complied, giggling with embarrassment.

They stealthily continued to advance through the high grass for a while, until a peculiar smell came to tickle Banzai's nostrils. Zebras... Probably not many, but a single one would be a godsend already. Raising his head above the grass, the male hyena glanced about, soon spotting the characteristic stripped skin of the large animal. In silence, he motioned for Ed to follow, and quickly covered the distance that separated them from their prey... The zebra perked its ears in alarm, throwing worried glances around as it could feel the presence of its natural predators ; but Banzai had already jumped at it a quarter of seconds later, firmly planting his fangs into its spine.

"Chom' on 'is 'egs, 'ome on !" the male hyena shouted at Ed's intention, as the zebra was furiously kicking out to try and get rid of Banzai. But Ed contented himself with remaining motionless, a blissful smile painted on his face as he contemplated the scene. Banzai rolled his eyes in annoyance...

"_I said_" Banzai began, releasing his grip for a split second "_Chomp on his legs, come on!_"

A glimmer of understanding shone in Ed's eyes, and he threw himself at the zebra, biting on its tail to immobilize it. The animal let out a whine of pain, and Banzai tightened his jaws onto its carotid artery. A jet of warm blood gushed out, splashing the male hyena and the herbs around; the zebra's eyes wildly rolled in their sockets as its very life was escaping its body in long, rhythmic gushes. Stepping away from the dying animal, Banzai gasped for seconds, then bit on the animal's knees to prevent it from escaping. As seconds passed, the zebra's movements became less nimble and more erratic, and it finally collapsed back, imprisoning Ed under its massive buttocks.

"When you'll be done clowning about... Would ya mind helping me?" Banzai growled. "Cripes, the sun is getting higher..."

Pulling out from under the dead zebra, Ed took a step towards his brother, who was preparing to dismember the carcass; all of a sudden, however, a grimace of pain deformed his traits, as an inarticulate moan was arising from his throat.

"What again, Ed? What is it? ..." Banzai barked. The other male had placated its front paws on his rear… Seconds later, his eyes rolled back in their sockets, and he slumped to the ground, a silly smile plastered on his face. Banzai blinked and walked over to Ed, who seemed oddly more "disconnected" than usual - which, considering his perpetual state of stupor, was proving to be rather worrying.

"Ed? You okay, Bro? ... " The male hyena tried in vain, poking his brother between his eyes. For all response, Banzai himself felt a painful and sudden stinging in his rear part, which managed a groan of surprise out of his throat.

"_Aaaaowwww!_" He bellowed, while a throbbing pain was suddenly invading the most sensitive part of his anatomy… Strange colors danced before his eyes, and an opaque veil gradually obscured his ideas.

"_I think I'm gonna puke..._"

Such was his last thought, a split second before everything went pitch black.

This morning, something insidious, coming from outside the Pridelands, and even outside the animal kingdom itself, had thus trespassed onto a territory that had ceased to be its own centuries ago. And that presence was already jubilant at the prospect of making it his own hunting grounds.

* * *

It was a sunray, filtering through a crevice of the rock, that woke up Kiara this morning. The lioness twisted her muzzle into a grimace that might have seemed comical, and sneezed vigorously in the process, realizing a second too late that her companion was sleeping directly in front of her...

Kovu grunted in surprise and blinked his golden eyes, giving Kiara a look of both shock and confusion, while the lioness plastered a paw on her muzzle with embarrassment.

"Sorry ..." she ventured in, trying to contain a fit of giggles.

The male lion shook his mane, anxious to recover at least a fraction of its dignity, before smiling back at Kiara.

"I usually prefer to be woken up in a less wet manner, Kiara." Kovu joked, pressing his muzzle against hers.

Kiara laughed, returning this beastly equivalent of a kiss, before beginning to stretch, dissipating the numbness of her muscles after nearly twelve hours of sleep, and simultaneously offering Kovu a pleasant demonstration of feline grace. The male sat up with a beatific smile, reveling in the spectacle with an enthusiasm that would have been more suited to a prepubescent cub...

"The view is as beautiful as ever on this side of the Pride Rock, dare I say. Yet another perfect morning on our land. " Kovu commented, licking his chops.

"No morning can claim perfection without breakfast, dare i add." Kiara replied. "We'd better hurry before the best preys are taken... or the other lionesses begin gloating about the fact that I'm starving you, my Prince!"

A few minutes later, both were walking outside in the warm sunlight, engaged in this eternal ritual of greeting which, over time, had almost come to be part of a collective unconscious shared among the lions. The light was part of their existence and their traditions; or so it seemed to Kovu. And it was so good to feel special, one of the few chosen ones.

«Everything the Light touches ... " the young lion started.

"No Light is ever going to touch your stomach if you do not stop philosophizing one second, my friend." Kiara interrupted with a mocking laugh. A second later, the lioness had already jumped at the feet of Pride Rock, on the lookout for a prey...

* * *

"They should be found in several flavors!" Kovu joked after finishing his meal. The male lion licked his blood-stained muzzle with satisfaction, before turning his attention to Kiara, while his companion was still busy tearing strips of flesh from the zebra carcass they had discovered not far from Pride Rock... It was surprising that a lioness could have abandoned a barely killed prey like that. But neither Kiara nor Kovu were going to complain about it, all too happy to be spared the need to hunt on this rather hot morning.

"Mayhaps you should tell Father about it!" Kiara quipped, between two mouthfuls, before carefully licking the blood that covered her claws. She then straightened up, stretching and sniffing the air.

"Speaking of Father and the Pride..." Kovu replied.

"Yes?"

"He asked me when we intend to make him a grandfather, you know..."

Kiara laughed heartily. "I'll name my daughter Huruma."

"And what if it's a male?" Kovu replied, intrigued.

"It will be a female."

"You don't say! And how can you be so sure?" the lion asked, resting his chin on his front paws.

"Because I'm a female." Kiara replied flatly, before jumping up and disappearing among the high grass. "And now, just you try and catch me with a full belly!" She teasingly shouted at Kovu's address, leaving a crystalline laugh float behind her.

The male lion remained speechless for a split second, then sighed. So much for killing time with a little nap!

* * *

Surely, the mane of a lion was his pride; but it could become a major embarrassment when it was a matter of running, especially after a hearty meal. Kiara knew this, and couldn't help laughing at the sight of Kovu dawdling after her, barely able to maintain a constant distance between them.

"So what?" She commented while pausing in her track to face her companion. "Is it the best you've got? How can you hope making a grandfather out of our King if you can't even catch me first? I'm starting to think that _you're_ the grandpa, my Prince!" Kiara taunted him with a playful wink. For a moment she remained motionless, almost allowing him to touch her, before leaping out of his reach at the last moment.

"Missed!" She trumpeted, failing to notice the tree in front of her...

"Ow!"

Kovu stopped dead and let out a tired laugh.

"I may have missed, but this tree didn't!" He chuckled before tilting his head in concern. "Kiara? Are you hurt?"

No response...

Kovu quickly covered the distance that separated him from his companion, and peered around the tall grass, but only to see Kiara pounce on him at the last second and send him rolling on his back.

"And thus the hunter becomes the prey!" commented the lioness, laying a paw on her Prince's belly.

Kovu chuckled and spread his paws in a parody of submissive posture. "Okay. You win. But this is the last time."

"Yes, that's what you keep saying all the time!" Kiara replied, rubbing her muzzle against his. Kovu closed his eyes, reveling in the preciousness of the present moment. Upon reopening them, he then noticed Kiara's look seemed suddenly directed towards something he could not see from his position, but which seemed to divert all her attention.

* * *

The Elephant Graveyard. A necropolis spanning several kilometers around, and constantly invaded by suffocating fumes. Everyone in the Pridelands knew that these vapors were none other than the residues from burning geysers. But to Kovu, this indistinct and creepy fog had always irresistibly evoked the lost souls of pachyderms who came here to die. It was the final frontier, bordering the Desert where Nothing Lives adjacent to the Pridelands ; an area of darkness and despair where grass itself dared not grow ; an undead in-between, unpleasant and sinister, in the image of the scavengers who inhabited it.

Kovu had been only told stories about the hyenas that once haunted this place. Things had changed by now, or at least that's what his King had told him. There was nothing else here, save for bleached bones and a sterile soil. And thus he could hardly conceive Kiara's sudden interest for this territory, so opposed to the Pridelands.

"This place gives me the creeps." Kovu commented vaguely, as he contemplated the bony carcasses extending out of sight.

Kiara was silent, not averting her gaze from the landscape of forgetfulness that extended before them. After a few seconds of an awkward silence, the lioness stood up and walked to the narrow gorge that twisted its way towards the Elephant Graveyard; Kovu blinked, confused, and stood awkwardly as well.

"Kiara? What are you doing?"

The female did not answer, merely pushing further through the moist vapor.

"We should not be here. We should not even get close to it. Father forbid us..." Kovu protested, throwing anxious glances around. As they progressed, the desolate landscape seemed on the verge of snapping shut onto them, like the jaws of some antediluvian beast whose teeth would have been giant ribcages.

Kovu grimaced in disgust, snorting at the smell of death and decay that hovered around the area. "It stinks!" He grumbled, as a half-reproach addressed to Kiara. "There is nothing good for us here. Just carrions and those pesky geysers!"

But the lioness remained silent, as if hypnotized by this haunted place. After a few minutes, she reached the edge of a depression in the ground where skulls and bones piled up in a macabre composition. Silence reigned, stretching its invisible tentacles around.

Suddenly, something moved inside the crater.

Out of the bony mass, a female hyena pulled out slowly, throwing cautious glances around her. She looked sickly and old, as if a lifetime among bones had gradually drained all life force away from her, leaving only a shell of flesh that still walked among the living yet already wore the mantle of the dead. Her mane, which had probably been thick and fluffy in the past, was now reduced to a meager wave of grayish hair running along her crooked spine. Her right ear was hanging limply, more a vestige of cartilage and scab, and a deep scar was running down her muzzle, splitting her brow in half and extending to the middle of her nose bridge.

The surprise and sudden nature of this vision left Kiara without reaction. She stopped dead, so that her presence remained unnoticed. Kovu had a similar reaction, and froze at the sight of the predator, his mane bristling as a roar was about to leave his throat.

But the hyena below them showed no sign of hostility. She hadn't even noticed the presence of the two lions. Limping to the center of the crater, she just let out a hoarse yelp... Inside the bone crevice from where she had appeared, something smaller than a lion cub stirred slightly, before trotting outside.

The hyena cub must have been already several months old, as evidenced by the small brown spots that were beginning to appear on its fluffy coat. But it was so small that it looked like it was barely a few weeks instead, and his legs had troubles carrying it as it walked towards his mother. Immediately after him, a second baby showed up, cautiously sniffing the air before leaving the den. Their mother limped up to them, briefly licking their muzzles and extending her protective shadow over them while she stood watching. She then undertook to scratch the ground with her valid front paw, digging out a bone fragment where a few shriveled shreds of flesh were still attached. Both babies squeaked in unison, throwing themselves onto the carcass with such eagerness that one of them lost its balance and rolled over with a pitiful cry. Approaching it, his mother helped it back on its feet, and the cub immediately clung to the comforting maternal nipples.

In silence, Kiara stared at the spectacle. And she was surprised that so much softness could arise from this scene; a devoted mother, and innocent children. That's what it was all about… However, the picture's tenderness was also tinted with pain. Small, sickly and malnourished, the young cubs were painful to watch, and would probably not survive long.

At her side, Kovu stood motionless, his incredulous look switching between the scene below, and the strange expression that had invaded Kiara's face.

"I thought these… things had fled the place. Just wait till the King learn of it, and..."

"Shut up." Kiara interrupted him, on a tone which was forbidding any reply. The male lion stared at her in disbelief for seconds, and shook his head.

"Come on! They are _hyenas_!" he replied in a dangerously loud voice.

Kiara said nothing and continued to watch the female and her cubs below. The hyena mother was suddenly acting nervous; mayhaps she could perceive their smell. Letting out a brief cackling, she hastened to lead her children to the safety of the burrow, pushing them inside with her muzzle.

"I've seen enough." Kovu let out with a grimace of disgust. "Let's go."

But Kiara was already preceding him, walking silently along the rocky gorge and back to the Pridelands. The male lion quickly followed her, all too happy to put some distance between himself and that foul abyss.

"Are you going to explain me?" He let out at her address, after they had finally reached the grassy border separating the Elephant Graveyard from their own territory. Fear, anger and incomprehension; Kiara could perceive all of this in the voice of her companion. Obviously, he was expecting more than a vague explanation about her reasons for venturing into such a place; Kovu also tacitly reproached her something else.

"What do you think we saw? A mother and her children. That's it." She answered.

Kovu growled, his chops pursing in a snarl; for a second, he was another one...

"Tell me about it. It would have been a pleasure to rip these little runts apart."

Turning back, Kiara stared a moment at him. "You keep telling horrors, Kovu. Especially when you're scared." And she walked away without fanfare.

* * *

_**And that's it for Chapter One! **_

_**What happened to Banzai and his brother? **_

_**Is Kiara going to confront her father about the hyenas' misery?**_

**_Find out soon in Chapter 2 !_**


	2. Cage of Freedom

**Chapter Two : Cage of Freedom**

* * *

When Banzai awoke from a slumber as muddy and heavy as the rear part of an obese elephant, it was to discover that a series of bars had apparently appeared all around him ; at his side, Ed was also emerging, his lips stretched in a groggy smile... Banzai remained dumbfounded for a moment, then, standing awkwardly on his legs, he let out a low growl and snapped his jaws onto the metal bars, giving them a good jolt to try and free himself... Around him, the cage trembled, yet the bars flinched not. Furious, the male hyena started anew, without further success; in a final effort, he then threw himself with all his strength against the bars. This time, the cage leaped forward on a good fifty inches... But the bars remained as sturdy as the trunk of a baobab, and Banzai merely staggered back, stunned, his forehead now boasting a bump the size of a hornbill egg. Behind him, Ed laughed so loudly that he almost choked...

Half groggy, Banzai looked up, vaguely distinguishing their captor through his blurred vision: the creature stood on its hind legs, and seemed to bear a sort of second "skin" over the first... A vaguely simian grin ran across its scarred face, revealing a pair of ruined incisors where food fragments could still be seen. With a grimace of contempt, the strange animal took a step back.

It was Banzai's first encounter with Humans, and they turned out to be just as frightening as he had been told... The male hyena let his head fall gently to the floor, pain throbbing in long, burning waves through his temples. Of what had occurred prior to this, he remembered nothing, or at best not much: just vague impressions, the smell of a freshly killed zebra, a painful sting up his hindquarters, his brain getting foggy and the world around him seemingly toppling over... Trying once more to get up, he only managed to drag himself back towards the bars, and once again locked his jaws onto them, shaking the cage.

"Hey you! Want me to fill an official complaint for disturbing the peace?" a shrill voice resounded to his right. Surprised, Banzai threw a sluggish look through the bars on the side, realizing that his cage was paired with another. In the center of the second cell stood a scruffy-looking meerkat, his tiny arms crossed on his chest as he was glaring at the male hyena. Right next to him, a fat warthog was slumped against the opposite wall. A persistent smell of methane seemed to glorify him, while his small porcine eyes were hazily staring into space.

"Co-ownership, buddy; never heard about it? I got my share with Pumbaa's intestinal problems already." the meerkat said, pointing towards the warthog. "So if you don't mind, hm?" Walking closer, he stared at Banzai for a moment, then blinked. "Hey, wait a sec, here... I know you, alright!"

"Do i, crumb!" Banzai mumbled upon recognizing Timon. For a quarter of a second, the male hyena almost forgot about the bars and seemed about to throw himself at the annoying critter to make a snack out of him... But he instead contented himself with snarling in frustration, his scowl alternating between Timon and the warthog. "The bug-eater, and the whoopee cushion. _Just great_."

Timon let out a bitter sneer. "And what should I say, then... Sharing my room with one roommate who provokes storm upon storm, one who laughs for no reason, and a third one who tries to tuck me every now and then?"

"Flattering yourself, are ya? It is not like there's an awful lot to bite off from you, anyway ..." Banzai replied.

«Ha-ha, very funny. You won't laugh as much after spending twelve hours in there, mark my words." Turning away, Timon returned with Pumbaa, leaning his back against the warthog's flank, and crossing his hands behind his head with a tired sigh. A few seconds later, a small trapdoor opened on the side of the cage, and a Human who was standing outside slipped in a bowl of dubious cleanliness, filled with something that resembled wet clay...

Closing the door, the Human walked around the cage to do the same on Banzai's side. Snarling in anger, the male hyena tried in vain to snap at his jailer's hand, but only succeeded in sending the bowl and its contents flying, and happily falling back on his head... Banzai snorted furiously, the contents of the bowl running down his snout in long, sticky drips, while Ed was letting out an inextinguishable laughter. The last time Banzai had felt so humiliated, it was when his rear part had suddenly been riddled with thorns, years before... In the adjacent cage, Timon gave the infamous mixture a sad look. Cautiously, the meerkat dipped a finger in the slurry, and brought it to his mouth with a grimace of disgust... "Oooh, how far you seem to be, my dear insects!" He moaned, turning away... At his side, Pumbaa gave the smelly mash an intrigued glance, sniffed it, and greedily plunged his snout into the bowl. "Hehe ... Not yucky at all." the warthog commented between bites...

Ignoring Timon's whinings and Pumbaa's gurglings, Banzai laid down at the center of the cage with a sigh. A shadow then stretched above him, forcing him to look up. The Human was overlooking the cage, his lips stretched into an evil grin.

Banzai growled savagely, but did not move. No matter what, the bars of the cage prohibited the success of any direct action. Better spare energy... and wait.

But wait for what?

* * *

The sun was already high above Pride Rock when Kiara and Kovu returned to its safety. The lioness had spoken not a word in the meantime, paying little to no attention to her companion on the way back. Kovu felt both angry and ridiculous; angry because the lioness was giving him the cold shoulder for some reason he could not grasp; and ridiculous, because unconsciously, he understood and knew she was right. Above all, he was indeed scared. Scared of his own past which always seemed about to catch up despite his good intentions; scared of what he might be reminded about his origins and his place in the Pride; finally, scared of his own reactions, because one could never completely deny his education. Scar may have been long dead, but Kovu could still sense the ghastly wraith of his father looming over him, whispering words of hatred and violence to him, and slyly reminding him they would always be related, up to the embarrassing scar which barred their faces.

In the shadowy freshness of the common den, some lionesses were grooming themselves after a successful hunt, happily exchanging comments about their daily catches and tracking strategies. When Kiara made her appearance, the hubbub was immediately reduced to a respectful whisper, and several lionesses bowed in submission to the future queen. From above, a rustling of feathers was heard, and Zazu, the now graying hornbill chamberlain of the King, hovered for a moment above the group before landing somewhat awkwardly in front of Kiara.

"Let there be light upon you, Your Grace. You are radiant." The bird bowed, joining his speech to an obsequious curtsey.

A flattery among others... Kiara may have previously felt like frolicking earlier this day, but now, all the compliments she may have enjoyed as the daughter of the King himself seemed pretty vain and overrated. Pretty metaphors, and sacred formulas; that's all they were. Nothing that truly mirrored the crude reality of things. The lioness put a semblance of formal smile on her lips, and nodded back towards the old hornbill; as snobbish as he was, Zazu was not a bad sort. A few meters behind, Kovu thought wiser to stand aside, ignoring the somewhat gravelly comments that some of the younger lionesses quietly let out on his princely self.

"Of my Father?" Kiara inquired.

"His Royal Highness is on his way, your Grace." Zazu replied. "The whole Pride is looking forward for your upcoming enthronement."

Kiara nodded. At the same moment, a massive figure stood at the entrance, temporarily obscuring the sunrays that filtered through it.

Years had removed nothing from Simba's leonine grace and strength, and the few graying locks a watchful eye could see in his mane only added to the aura of dignity and plenitude that emanated from his royal person. With age had come maturity, which had turned a young and inexperienced heir into the respected king he had become today. The sovereign's tail slightly swatted his flanks for a moment, as he walked among his subjects, a benevolent smile gracing his muzzle. The lionesses allowed him passage, and he went to stand on top of a natural rock platform that jutted into the bottom of the den. Under the arch, a quartet of brightly colored exotic birds started singing as a salute to the King. True to himself, Zazu performed such an eager curtsey that he lost his balance, entailed by the weight of his own beak, and ended onto his belly...

"Let there be light upon you, friends."

Simba's voice was powerful, but in no way devoid of warmth; it was the voice of a king who knew himself at peace with both his kingdom, and with himself. Casting his eyes over the congregation, he paused for a moment, his golden eyes lingering onto Kovu and Kiara. Something about his heirs make him wince visibly, though, and he invited them to step forward.

"My children. I sense... a certain smell on you." Simba declared evenly.

Kiara remained as motionless as a statue. Kovu himself looked down with an almost palpable embarrassment, avoiding Simba's look.

The King imperceptibly furrowed his brows.

("_A smell that I had not felt since ..._")

For nearly a minute, Simba stared at them.

"Please leave us." He finally blurted at the other lionesses' address. The assembly vanished with near-magical speed, a few whispers floating in its trail, along with some stealthy looks towards Kovu and his companion. The pompous Zazu himself discretely stepped aside, and flew up to perch himself in higher ground, while not feeling particularly comfortable. Silencing the other birds with a slight gesture, he then turned quiet himself ... The King did not seem happy, and it was much wiser to let the furred Majesties explain themselves alone.

"Kovu, Kiara ... I know where you have been. Do not say anything. The smell of decay is talking for you." Simba said after the last lioness had left the cave. "You are now adults, and as such, it is adults that I hope to address. Just like I hope for an adult response."

"I never wanted to enter the Graveyard, Father... I just followed Kiara; she's no pushover!" Kovu defended himself, flattening his ears ; but Simba sent him a pointed glare, silencing him. Then, turning his attention to his daughter, the King nodded. "Explain yourself, Kiara."

The lioness stood up, taking a step toward Simba.

"Father. I now know that the hyenas are still confined to the Elephant Graveyard. But do we really have to force such a cruel treatment on them?"

Simba remained silent for several seconds, but in the meantime, emotions succeeded at full speed on his face: surprise, anger, embarrassment; and once again, the calm and composed mask.

"My Daughter, you are discussing an ancient decision that is no longer ours. Neither I, nor you, nor anyone else is entitled to issue any sort of judgment on the wisdom of our Fathers. Over the ages, their foresight has brought peace and prosperity to our Pride; and I will continue to honor their memory as it should."

"Is refraining from being judgmental so crucial, that it should condemn an entire clan to extinction?" Kiara replied on an even tone. "Is it normal that _children_ would have to pay for the crimes of their ancestors?" Behind her, Kovu visibly cringed; the future queen standing up to the King? Where was that world going this morning!

But Simba remained impassive, his serene mask betraying no emotion. "Kiara. You are still ignorant of the meaning of responsibility; I do not blame you. I myself spent many a year trying to perceive it. But you're still young, and for the good of our Pride and land, I ask you to forget about the whole thing, and stop interfering."

Readjusting his posture atop the rocky protuberance, Simba paused for seconds, before concluding. "The Elephant Graveyard is a prohibited land. And this applies to all of us. This discussion is now over."

The lioness weighed the words of her King during a few seconds, and finally nodded; but it was a gesture of renunciation, not of appeasement. A few meters away, Kovu nervously swept the ground with his tail, silently expressing his desire to be elsewhere. The two lions exchanged glances, and left the den.

Simba's regal mask then decomposed, his face veiling into peculiar shades.

"_The foresight._.."

(_the mistakes_ ?)

"... _of our fathers_."

Above him, Zazu gave a sigh and slowly shook his head. Frowning, the King gave him a grim look.

"Any comment, Banana Beak?" He muttered.

The hornbill merely shrugged his shoulders; his opinion was what it was, but it was only the opinion of a chamberlain...

* * *

"You went a bit far back there, don't you think?" Kovu muttered at his companion's address, after they had returned to their own cave. Kiara remained silent for a while, stretching a bit before going to lie down on the flat, smooth stone they both used as a couch.

"Do you think so as well, my Prince?" the lioness inquired.

Kovu rolled his eyes.

"What I do think is that _you_ think too much. Our King is good and wise; he accepted me as his own son and heir despite my origins, and for the good of our Pride. I cannot accept that someone would contest his decisions. Even you, Kiara."

The lioness sighed and shook her head. "But, didn't you see..."

"What? What did I see, anyway? A bunch of mangy scavengers that would be better off dead? Until now, nobody ever demonstrated the hyenas' usefulness, nor why we would ever need them..."

Kiara stiffened at those words, looking daggers at her companion, in a paroxysm of anger.

"_And you, Kovu, don't you forget who you are and where you come from!_" She harshly spat out. She then calmed down, an expression of regret appearing on her face while Kovu looked down to the ground, hurt in his ego.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to make you feel bad... But more than anyone else on these lands, you should think twice before saying such things..." the lioness replied on a softer tone...

"No, Kiara, I..." Kovu started without raising his head. "It is I who should apologize. It's true, I'm behaving like a scum at times. My origins are what they are, I cannot help it. But I want you to know that I've changed... I mean, if I lose your love, I'm done."

The lioness let out another sigh and approached Kovu, rubbing his head against the young Prince's mane. "Don't you know yet that I'll always love you, you big lug?" She whispered.

Managing a faint smile, the lion stood up, returning the affectionate gesture before plunging his eyes into hers.

"What did you see, then? Or, what do you think you saw?"

Kiara shook his head slowly.

"I don't know. It's like... a sensation. Father sees antagonism, hatred and the impossibility to coexist with whoever's not like us. And I want to see with better eyes than that."

* * *

"_Ow!_"

It was about the fifteenth time Banzai had yelped since the humans' strange machine had started crawling chaotically along the track. The cage he shared with his companions in misfortune had been precariously loaded on the back of the vehicle, and with every bump on the ground, it would have seemed the whole thing could have fell over at any time. Banzai had been thrown aside on several occasions, and the male hyena was now covered in bruises... A few inches away from him, Ed displayed a curious expression: the expression of someone either about to burst laughing, or about to belch his entire meal; perhaps both... Banzai did not dare imagine the outcome. In the adjacent cage, Timon did not seem to fare any better, his head hanging limply through the bars while he was attempting to breathe some fresh air. At his side, Pumbaa was dozing, occasionally letting out a loud fart; just as usual!

Banzai sighed and laid down, sore to the bone. Right next to him, Ed suddenly let out a disturbing gurgling, forcing the other hyena to give him an alarmed look.

"Huh! Ed? ... Take a deep breath, Bro ... You're gonna be okay, yes? " Banzai mumbled, expecting the worst. Ed gave him a sheepish smile and a nod, which instantly triggered another, more intense gurgle.

"Hey, hey! Easy, eas-..." Banzai exclaimed, his sentence interrupted mid-way and finally covered by a strangely liquid and sticky noise resounding from inside the cage.

"I hate you." Banzai hissed after few seconds. Ed just laughed shyly, flattening his ears. At least he felt relieved now!

From his own cage, Timon contemplated the mess, in horror...

"I wanna die..." the meerkat whispered.

"Shut your flap, crumb, or i'm givin' you up to these Humans!" Banzai growled.

"No! I won't shut it! I wanna die!" Timon replied in a sob...

"I'll have no prob satisfying you if we ever pull out of that mess, rest assured!" the male hyena retorted, mere seconds before a strange sound was heard at the front of the machine. There was a dry clatter, and a plume of black smoke rose up, along with a copious assortment of screams and curses from the first Human. The machine slowed, and stopped. Surprised, Banzai perked up his ears, listening without understanding what was going on...

The first Human stepped down, approaching the front of the machine and furiously kicking it...

The other did not move at first, and then he finally stood up as well, exchanging a few harsh vocals with his sidekick. Quickly, however, the discussion seemed to heat up, or so it seemed to Banzai, as the second Human brandished a long metallic object under his companion's nose; there was a short, snapping sound, and the other jerked away with a yelp.

Just at the same time, a terrifying bellowing resounded nearby, and both Humans froze on spot as the ground started shaking...

Everything happened at a frightening speed; in the space of a few seconds, the vibration turned into a dull rumble similar to thunder; all that Banzai saw was a huge grey mass that seemed to come out from nowhere, and suddenly blocked his line of sight. When the infuriated rhino hit the machine, the entire structure took off from the ground with the ease and elegance of a flock of birds... Both cage and vehicle whirled in the air with an equal grace during a time that seemed to stretch indefinitely, and during which Timon screamed in horror as he saw the entirety of his simplistic meerkat life run in front of his eyes...

"_Pumbaa! I have always loved you!..._"

"Meh?" the warthog muttered, still half - asleep.

In his own cage, Banzai felt the world spin madly, to the point of being freed from gravity for a few seconds. Nearby, he vaguely heard Ed's burst of laughter.

"_I'm so sorry, Shenzi…_ " he thought in spite of himself, while the cage was beginning its final descent towards the ground.

There was an impact. But less violent an impact than what the male hyena had expected... Something soft seemed to deaden the cage's fall on the ground, simultaneously producing an intriguing crushing noise. Banzai nonetheless ended up once again heard-first into the metallic bars, a blast of throbbing pain managing a puppy whimper out of his throat. He then stood up painfully, trying to gather himself.

"_Great. I'm dead, and I remember being alive?_" Banzai immediately wondered, a split second before being recalled to a sense of life through another violent throb in his head. "_Well, I guess not..._" He mentally concluded with a grimace, trying to ignore the long waves of pain in his head. Nearby, Ed was still shaken by an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"What a happy hyena you are; how I envy you..." Banzai commented at his brother's address, before looking around him...

The cage was wobbling onto one of its edges, and something was apparently stuck underneath, so that the outside appeared at a curiously crooked and bizarre angle. The cage's structure had been partly deformed by the impact, and the main door was barely hanging by one half-dislocated hinge. Shaking his head, the male hyena grabbed the lock between his jaws and gave it a good shake; the crushed mechanism instantly broke apart and fell to the ground while the door opened with a creak.

"Egad, Eddie!... Will ya take a look at that! Our passport to freedom!" Banzai rhapsodized, squirming through the opening. In the adjacent cage, Timon himself took a wary glance outside, setting his eyes on what was below them.

"Looks like we landed onto something truely special." the meerkat commented, staring at the boots of one of the Humans, which were protruding from underneath the cage.

"I don't know ... But at least I had a good nap. " Pumbaa replied between two yawns. "Speaking of that, what were you just saying back then, Buddy? I was not quite awake ..."

Timon face-palmed. "Nothing. Drop it." He muttered, then jumped out of the cage as well. Upon reaching the ground, the meerkat however froze, realizing he was just a few inches away from Banzai's muzzle.

"Eeek!" Timon yelped, falling to his knees. "So that's it, huh? I'm gonna be snack, right?"he moaned.

But the male hyena just sent him packing, before turning away.

"I ain't got no time for this crap, crumb." He retorted. "I am expected."

The meerkat sat up, frowning with an air of offended dignity, before dusting himself off and folding his scrawny little arms on his chest. "You're expected? Someone's longing for you, perhaps? Now that's good one..." Timon mumbled. Banzai briefly turned back and gave him a strange look. Not an angry look, but rather a blank stare. Almost a look of sadness.

"My girlfriend." the male hyena muttered, before walking away with Ed in tow. "I don't expect you to understand..."

Timon stared at the pair for a moment, confused, before eyeing Pumbaa. "Come on in, Buddy." the meerkat murmured, climbing onto one of his friend's tusks. A few minutes later, Banzai whirled around upon realizing that Pumbaa had caught up with them; Timon was sitting on his back...

"Okay, now what!" the male hyena barked. "Don't go thinking we're buddies now!"

"And you, don't go thinking you'll get away with this so easily." Timon retorted with a frown.

"What? Are ya threatening me, crumb?" the male hyena growled, displaying a good raw of his powerful teeth. Timon just sighed.

"Listen... This place ain't safe and night's falling. Who's telling you there aren't any more of these Humans lurking around? We gotta stay in pack if we wanna have a chance to pull through."

Banzai gave him a dumbfounded look.

"What? Staying with ya? The bug-eater and the whoopee cushion?"

"Hey! The road belongs to everyone, 'kay? You just have to pretend we're all walking in the same direction! There! " the meerkat replied.

Banzai let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "For all I care, anyway..." His mind was elsewhere...

* * *

_**Chapter 3 is underway ! Can Timon and Banzai put aside their differences in front of these human poachers?**_

_**And with her father refusing all dialogue, what is Kiara going to do?**_

_**Find out soon !**_


	3. In Death's Embrace

**Chapter Three : In Death's Embrace**

* * *

_Lying on her side, Kiara is frantically panting from the first throbs of childbirth; the light of a dying sun is filtering through the mouth of the cave, hanging a canopy of orange flames around its walls._

_The wind is rumbling outside. Yet Kiara does not feel its blow. It's like the specter of a storm, screaming in vain out of time. As minutes pass, the contractions become more violent. But the lioness knows no fear; she has desired this child more than anything else. This is a duel with herself before her moment of glory, a baptism of fire before her ultimate reward._

_Thoughts collide in her mind; Huruma. She will call her Huruma, which means "compassion"; for compassion must be the first quality of a future queen. Compassion for everyone, even for outcasts. Especially for outcasts... She wishes Kovu was there to witness the birth of their daughter._

_In a final spasm where both pain and triumph co-exist, delivery occurs at last. Kiara lets herself fall to the ground, exhausted; the scent of victory inebriates her as she bends over to lick the newborn's face._

_It is tiny and wrinkled, still partially wrapped in the yolk sack. Its down is dark._

_Far too dark to be a lion..._

_Carefully, Kiara studies her child, releasing it from the viscous membrane that restrains it._

_It's a hyena. The steadily opened eyes and tiny teeth are unmistakable. The lioness freezes in sheer horror. Then, a wave of compassion overwhelms Kiara and, vanquished by this sincerity, darkness dissipates just like the original feeling of repulsion. She is now feeling an intense joy penetrating her whole being; it is a feeling of warmth, tenderness, and unalloyed affection that fills her soul. Pulling the baby hyena against her, she cradles it in her front paws. She can feel life pulsating into the small body, and that desire to live seems so intense that her heart sinks._

_A shadow suddenly looms over it, blocking the sunlight outside. Simba is standing at the entrance, impassive, his gaze set on his daughter and the new life she is lulling between her paws._

_Looking down at the baby, the King freezes, but his expression remains as cold and malevolent as ice._

_"A hyena. A baby hyena." he comments. His royal face is now no more than mask molded out of cold cruelty, the face of an implacable and unforgiving tyrant. In silence, Kiara withstands this look she no longer recognizes._

_"I come to believe that my daughter was bewitched." he goes on, placing its massive paw onto the newborn and pulling it out of Kiara's reach._

_"Father, no! I beg you, do not kill it! " the lioness pleads, feeling her eyes misting with tears. "It's only a baby, it has done nothing wrong!"_

_«Lions and hyenas may not live together in the Light." Simba imperturbably continues; through her tears, Kiara sees him seize the small hyena between his jaws and walk away, once again fixing his unfathomable glance onto her. "You betrayed us all, Kiara. You were my greatest pride... And you are now my greatest disappointment."_

_She lets herself fall back, bursting out into sobs, crying for the baby hyena and for herself as Simba's words still echo through her mind, endlessly amplified into a howl of cosmic rage. Such is the last thing her tattered mind perceives, before sinking into the depths of a crimson abyss._

Kiara gasps, and the merciful awakening occurs at last.

Darkness reigns, contracting its mass in the cave, and giving an aura of mystery to anything that might be in there. As Kovu is standing above her, his silhouette itself briefly seems to take on the appearance of an unspeakable star-born chimera. He's looking down at her, a glimmer of concern burning in his eyes.

"You cried in your sleep." Kovu whispers, reaching Kiara's cheek to wipe away the stream of tears she's shedding.

* * *

The two lions were now standing in the open, at the entrance of their cave which extended into a rocky ledge. The Great Kings' stars were shining over them, but on this night, their icy sparkle was bringing no comfort to Kiara. Her half-forgotten nightmare was now but a series of inconsistent chips and sensations, which had made Kovu shake his head with an air of perplexity.

"You're trying to make sense of something that has none." the male lion sighed. But Kiara remained silent, her mind floating elsewhere. This dream was not accidental, she knew it. Nothing about it was logical, and yet everything in it seemed to chain so naturally that she could not bring herself to see it as the mere product of her tired mind. Throughout this vision, she was aware of having felt something deeper than the three-dimensional and reassuring reality of the physical world.

"It was so clear ... I could hear the baby's heartbeat. I could even perceive Father's smell beside me." The lioness murmured gently.

"Our King has nothing to do with the monster you describe me here." Kovu responded.

"You do not understand. I 'm not afraid of Father; I'm afraid... of what might happen."

The male lion gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean? What could happen?"

"I don't know." Kiara replied. "I'm afraid of his part of darkness, of what he'd refuse to show us. I am afraid of our bestial instincts, even though we are a race of kings. And I'm afraid of myself, of what I could do..."

Kovu bit on his lips. The dark side, and the duality of all beings; one side bathing in the light, and the other plunged into darkness ; the told and the untold, frightening to each other. He knew that all too well...

"I know what I have to do." Kiara continued after a moment of silence.

And Kovu did not need further explanations.

* * *

At the same time, in his own cave, Simba himself was not asleep. All day long, the King had remained away from his subjects, including the faithful Zazu, that he had eventually dismissed without much fanfare, unwilling that Simba was to cope with a conscientious objector who had known him since he was a cub, and barely able to trudge between his mother's paws.

Lying on its stony couch, Simba was silently brooding over the past glories of his ancestors who, since the dawn of time when the first lion had stalked the surface of this world, had done so much for the prosperity of their Pride. One day soon, he would himself step down; Kovu would then become the new herald of the Pridelands, and once again, their legacy would be passed from father to son, for their greatest honor.

And yet, the shadows of the past were also still there, as a reminder of the unspeakable brutality that lay dormant in everyone: the torments of an adopted son haunted by his origins; the felony of an uncle with a wounded soul; and in the distance, the vague memory of a grandfather, and of a terrible decision... Simba still remembered that day when, while standing atop Pride Rock, he had been able to contemplate the extent of their kingdom for the first time. "Everything the Light touches is our kingdom." Such had been the words of Mufasa. But Simba also remembered his dark expression, his heavy tone, and the hint of regret that floated in his response when, asked about what was in the shadows, the old lion had simply replied that no lion should ever enter it.

And Kiara in all this? She was... different. No, not different. Simply, perhaps, more sincere with herself. Also, still partly foreign to the Pride's history, not yet a Queen, and unaware of this position's privileges and constraints. She had the advantage over Simba to be able to consider everything with a fresh eye, without letting personal experiences blind her, or miring into backward-looking ideas.

Rising to his feet, the King casted his glance onto his sleeping companion Nala, who at this moment was dreaming her own dreams. A moonbeam was haloing the lioness of its silvery sheen, filtering through a crack above them which let appear a corner of starry sky. For a long moment, Simba stood motionless, gazing at the stars, in search of an answer. The Great Kings of the past were watching over their descendants, but their light indeed seemed quite distant tonight.

"_Millennial Fathers... Guardians of all that is good and noble... May your wisdom guide us, and let us honor your memory_."

And the stars went on shining long after Simba had given up, but darkness dissipated not. On this night, the Great Kings remained desperately silent and hostile.

* * *

The Elephants Graveyard was already grim during daytime, but night only added to its dismal appearance; with the cold night air, the clouds of steam that haunted the place in the day had turned into long, crawling pseudopods, now licking the soil's rocky ridges and pouring out in sprawling filaments along the depressions. No star shone over Kovu and Kiara, while the two lions were once again sinking their way into this landscape of oblivion. From a distance, the ambient darkness gave a spectral quality to the bony remains, bringing spooky silhouettes to life.

The lioness was leading the way, her first fascination in front of this place now turned into a cautious determination. Why she had come here, she was not sure yet. But one way or another, she wanted to believe the dream she had experienced related to these haunted areas where, for the first time, she had experienced shame in front of a misery that did not seem to depend on her. Kovu, meanwhile, was trailing behind her as usual, continuously casting anxious glances around him, and vaguely muttering about the fact that Simba would surely rip his eyes off, and shove them down his throat, after this ultimate act of disobedience!

"Remind me again why I agreed to do what I'm doing right now..." the lion whispered to his companion while sending her a serious look. Kiara stopped short, and stared at Kovu from over her shoulder.

"What _we_ are doing right now, you mean." she corrected him. "And I did not force you to follow me, Kovu; it's just you who feel that I am not up to it."

Mortified, the male remained silent, merely following Kiara ... After a few minutes, they made their way through a natural plate maze leading to the center of a bone-filled depression in the ground. The lioness stopped abruptly, her senses in alert.

A presence manifested itself. Indistinct, shadowy shapes seemed to stand out against night itself, taking the appearance of stooped silhouettes; their glistening yellow eyes pierced the darkness as they approached the two lions, surrounding them. Sinister whoopings resounded, reflecting the barely-contained rage of the hyena group that had just appeared out of the night... Kovu felt his stomach sink to the bottom of his feet, and he froze on spot. After all, it seemed that Simba's wrath would become the least of his worries in the next few minutes. Whirling around, the male lion stepped in front of his companion, his chops pulling up on a low growl. In his back, Kiara herself remained as motionless as a statue, both fascinated and terrified. "_They were so quiet_..." she thought, feeling compelled to admire the efficiency with which the predators had surrounded them.

"Well, well, well... Looks like we'll have barbecue tonight, guys! " One of the hyenas declared on a sinisterly playful tone. "We got two big kitties to dinner."

Around, other hyenas guffawed loudly.

"Who the hell are these two anyway? The Queen Mother and her lil' lackey?"

"No clue... But i haven't gobbled fresh meat in a while, especially a king-size steak!"

More snickers...

"We want... I wish to talk to the one in command." Kiara finally said, looking round on the horde of predators whose circle seemed to tighten dangerously. Nearby, another one of the hyenas dropped a sardonic sneer.

«You heard that, guys? The gammon has a last wish!"

"What's the point, anyway? What are we waiting for? I'm starvin'! Gonna cut myself one big steak!"

"Yeah, well said! Enough jokes, let's eat!"

Slowly, the hyenas advanced on them, teeth bared. Kiara stiffened, ready to fight, when a new voice suddenly arose, strong and authoritative, from outside the circle.

"_Let them be!_"

The horde froze as a single individual, a vague murmur running among the predators while their mass parted to make room for the newcomer. More physically impressive than her congeners, the female hyena also appeared older, and something within her exuded an undeniable authority. As she approached Kiara, the lioness caught a glimpse of her mane, which was divided into three curious bangles on the forehead. Another detail caught her attention: the skin of her abdomen was swollen and distended, revealing an advanced pregnancy.

Just behind her, a smaller female hyena followed in silence. At the sight of the two lions, her short dark muzzle opened on both a savage growl and a nightmarish jaw that reminded Kiara one single snap of this formidable natural vice was able to crush a lion's leg without effort.

"Well, it looks like lions no longer need to get lost to encroach where they should not be, nowadays." the younger hyena spat, withstanding Kiara's stare. "Our children are dying because of you, but exiling us is not enough? Must you also come on our own land to taunt us?" Her voice was as sharp as an obsidian shard, yet her words seemed to give away more anger than actual mockery. Kiara had heard of that habit of hyenas to taunt their preys at length before killing them, and she had also been able to experience it minutes earlier ... But this one seemed different. Before the lioness' silence, the other female paused in hesitation, tilting her head in a quizzical way.

"That's it... Keep on insulting us with your silence, cat." She replied after a moment, slowly advancing towards Kiara.

"Shut up, Windaji."

The older hyena had raised her voice on a peremptory tone, forcing her congener to freeze into a submissive posture.

"But Matriarch, I ..." whispered the one called Windaji, trying to justify herself.

"_One more word, and I'm adding you to tonight's menu._"

Windaji sketched a grimace of anger in return, but she compelled without a word, and stepped away on a few feet before starting walking in circles around them, without averting her gaze from Kiara and her companion. Turning her attention to the lioness, the Matriarch seemed to judge her in silence for a few minutes.

"I can perceive the King's smell on you, girl. You're the daughter of the one who rules the Pride Lands, eh?" She asked on a harsh tone, before focusing her gaze again on Kovu. "And that one here... I do not like his stench." she added. Kovu let out a low growl in response, nervously beating a retreat in front of a truth that was too heavy to stomach, and avoiding direct eye contact with the Matriarch. Without ceasing to eye him, the older hyena turned again to Windaji.

"Keep watch on him. Make sure he remains in his place; if he starts being clever, rip his tongue off."

Frowning, Kovu opened his mouth to respond harshly, but Kiara ordered him silent with a nod. "Please. Keep calm. They'll kill us for sure if we try anything... " the lioness implored him. Approaching her companion, she rubbed her cheek against his for a moment.

"I'll be back. I promise."

Turning to the Matriarch, who had remained as silent and motionless as a statue, Kiara gave her a nod, and followed her out of sight. With a sigh of anguish, Kovu sat down, looking away beyond the mist while the other hyenas closed in around him. A few meters away, Windaji glared at him as well, letting him know in silence that, even though he was on borrowed time for now, she only had to give one single order to the horde surrounding him ; _and then!_...

* * *

The long, creeping curls of steam were relentlessly continuing their migration over the Graveyard's rocky ground, while Kiara could feel the mist itself tighten around her, like some monstrous constrictor snake. And for the first time since her arrival among this place, the lioness felt a pang of fear surface in her mind; she was alone, probably lost in the middle of this area of darkness, in the company of a hyena who would likely not hesitate killing her without warning... However, something within her urged her to continue, repressing her uncertainties to the back of her mind; and thus, it is with a strange calmness that Kiara withstood the Matriarch's glare, as she finally turned around to face her.

"So you wanted to talk to the Matriarch, eh? Well, go ahead. Spit it out!" the hyena silently growled, displaying her fangs. "Gimme one good reason not to flay you alive."

"I do not come as an enemy, if it can make you feel better." Kiara replied, striving to stay calm; as aggressive as she was, her interlocutor was above all afraid, despite the facade of aggressive authority she tried to maintain. The lioness knew it, and against all odds, she was feeling some kind of empathy for this hyena, whose only desire was basically to protect the life she carried within her. "I'm looking for answers... I'm trying to understand what drove my kind to exile your people."

"No kidding!" the hyena retorted with a bitter sneer. "Don't you dare touch me, I might change into gold!... What do ya know of us, anyway? You figure we've been waitin' for you all this time, O Great Holy Lioness who knows it all?"

"No, I do not figure anything." the lioness replied with a sigh. "No more than I pretend to know you and your kind; if I'm here, it's only to try and help your people."

The hyena Matriarch remained dumbfounded for several seconds, for once truly baffled by Kiara's words... She then opened her mouth to reply, but her answer, whatever it was, suddenly turned into a hoarse groan, accompanied by a spasm that sent her toppling on her flank. Blinking, Kiara leaned over her, trying to support the hyena's head.

"Are you unwell?" the lioness inquired.

The hyena gave a growl of anger and tried to squirm away, looking daggers at Kiara. "Stay away, scum!" She hissed, her mane bristling and her formidable fangs suddenly flashing. "Keep your blasted pity for your own kind..." Her voice cracked on the last sentence, and she fell silent again, curling up on herself with another groan of pain.

In silence, Kiara leaned further over the Matriarch, hesitating a moment before gently applying her paw onto the hyena's painful abdomen ; for a second, she expected to see her lash back and sink her fangs into her throat ; but it did not happen... All the lioness felt was a slight shudder, when her pads came into contact with the hyena's belly fur. Raising her head, the Matriarch glared at her with uncertainty. Biting on her lips, Kiara then began to gently massage the swollen abdomen, to ease the spasms.

"Is it painful?"

"Always..." the hyena whispered on an almost inaudible tone, before closing her eyes with a sigh of exhaustion, as she tried to hold back tears of pain.

The lioness sighed; in silence, her eyes set on the Matriarch. A part of herself, that she could easily perceive as maternal instinct, felt an urgent need to provide assistance to this tormented female; for, even though Kiara did not know much about hyenas, she knew how laborious could their pregnancy be, and how great were the risks... It was not uncommon for both mother and children to die during parturition, and the hyena was probably aware of that; there was not just anger in her eyes, but also fear, and despair; a great sadness, yet long suppressed and ignored, probably because no weakness could be allowed when you were standing at the head of a matriarchal society where power equaled a competition to death.

"My name is Kiara." the lioness finally said after a long moment.

Slowly, the hyena looked up, plunging her sulfur-colored gaze in Kiara's eyes.

"Shenzi..." she replied on an even tone without averting her eyes, before shaking her head with a frown of incomprehension that was not devoid of suspicion. "Why are you doin' this? I didn't ask ya for anything, and I don't see why I'd deserve this kind of consideration from a lion..."

Kiara shook her head, as she continued to gently massage Shenzi's sore belly. "I'd answer you if I knew myself..." She then paused, and was silent for a long moment, contemplating the devastated landscape around. "The Lions incessantly talk of the Light and its benefits... But i do not want of their light if it is destined to only a handful of chosen ones. Nobody has the right to decide who the light should be given to or not. Not even the Kings."

Shenzi sighed, pouting in exasperation. "Lions and their intuitions; blah-blah-blah, we did everything, we saw everything... This is all just zebra dung." the hyena murmured, rolling on her back to give Kiara a better look.

The lioness nodded in silence; throughout her childhood, she had lived a nice dream in the middle of this Eden that were the Pride Lands; everything there was simple, sunny and monochrome, and one grew there with the certainty that the wisdom of his elders was universal... But with time, Kiara had come to realize that this wisdom was often only conceit, triumphalism and barely concealed contempt towards everything that would have been contrary to their convictions. Kovu himself was no stranger to this; despite all her love for him, she knew the future King could sometimes behave like the lowliest thug...

And Simba... The generous and good-natured old king seemed to gradually change into a ruthless tyrant, a severe, arrogance-armored beast, foreign to any compassion.

Her stream of thought was suddenly interrupted, while a slight shiver went down her spine; turning back, Kiara looked around in search of some invisible presence that would have been lurking in the shadows nearby... But there was nothing.

Nothing except the rocky and tormented area, which gradually yielded place to a universe of bones bleached by ages, where everything was merging in a boundless sea of gray. Here, no sound seemed to filter any longer, and movement itself no longer existed. At the center of this place on the edge of forever stood the still intact skull of what had once been a gigantic elephant. Its tree-sized tusks bending skyward, he had probably been there from time immemorial, listening to silence and patiently waiting for the stars of the Great Kings themselves to become cold and dull. Fascinated, Kiara watched the bone relic for a moment, before turning to the Matriarch.

"What is this place?"

Sitting up on her hind legs, Shenzi looked towards the skull for a moment before answering. "This is the Elder Skull." Murmured the hyena. "The old matriarchs' grave."

Kiara blinked, puzzled. "A sepulcher?"

"Call it how ya want. You gotta kick the bucket one day or another..." Shenzi replied with a slight shrug. "It's not like I go there often, anyway ... There's nothing to chew on ; nothing but dry bones and that stinkin' cesspool." She added, wrinkling his nose. "In fact, no one went in there since, like, forever."

But Kiara had only vaguely heard the hyena's response, her mind fully focused on the pachyderm skull. Something seemed to irresistibly attract her to this place... Noticing her prolonged silence, Shenzi gave her a quizzical look. "What's the problem, now?"

"I don't know ... I can feel something." The lioness murmured in return without averting her eyes from the skull.

The hyena matriarch rolled her eyes... " No joke! Well, be my guest! Go in, if you enjoy rotten corpses and the fragrance that comes along!... It's been a while since I got my share with the Graveyard itself." She replied before turning away. "It ain't like I could prevent you to do so in my current state, anyway."

Addressing her an uncertain look, the lioness then advanced towards the skull, to study it closer. It was so huge that Kiara could have easily stood upright in one of its hollow eye sockets; its surface, weathered by age, seemed as smooth as a mirror, and it exuded a kind of phosphorescence, which in this place seemed surreal. Heavy plumes of vapor clung to the massive tusks' ivory, twisting into chimerical and elusive arabesques, just like as many wraiths haunting the place. Spotting a dark burrow which seemed to sink deep beneath the skull, Kiara entered it after casting one last glance backwards; Shenzi watched her disappear inside the narrow passage, and sat pensively on her rear, reaching her belly with her front paw.

"Must be goin' crazy ..." she mumbled to herself.

Years earlier, never would have she considered the possibility of addressing a lion other than in a fight to the death ; her past, and her few contacts with those who claimed Kinghood from father to son had been negative, at the very least.

And yet...

And then there was Banzai… _Her _Banzai, with whom her relations had, for a long time, not evolved past the classic relationship between a dominant female and a subservient male. Her Banzai, which she had not heard from since a whole day now. Initially, Shenzi would never have thought things such as feelings could exist in the life of a Matriarch; nor weakness or empathy for that matter.

And yet...

Years earlier, never would she have suspected she would one day be carrying what was possibly her clan's last hope in front of a slow agony. Shenzi had always imagined her heart hardened beyond redemption, and unable to feel any affection, even for her own children.

And yet...

* * *

_**What will Kiara discover inside the Elder Skull ?**_

_**Stay tuned for Chapter Four !**_


	4. Revelations and Chaos

**Chapter Four : Revelations and Chaos**

* * *

The narrow passage was plunged into eternal darkness, a darkness so thick that it seemed almost tangible to Kiara, as the lioness had soon found herself forced to crawl her way through it. As minutes passed without her seemingly reaching the end of the tunnel, she was becoming increasingly convinced that the hyena had just tricked her; this passage likely led to nothing, and she'd just eventually find herself stuck in a dead-end, unable to turn around or even move. And then she'd probably suffocate to death, unless Shenzi would show up in her back and rip her apart. But just as the lioness was about to give up all hope, the tunnel suddenly widened again, curving upwards. With a sigh of both exasperation and relief, Kiara climbed out of the passage - and lost herself in the contemplation of this otherworldly place.

The tunnel had given way to a room carved by the ages in the stone, where rocks and bones had eventually merged to give birth to an amazing natural arch... Strange fungi were gleaming on the walls of the cave, haloing it with a soft blue glow; a spring was gurgling softly between the surrounding crystalline concretions, winding through patches of vegetal moss where tiny fireflies were quietly buzzing.

Kiara walked to the center of the cave, fascinated; even in the most complete misery, there could be beauty. Even in death, there could be life; an oasis vibrant with life, symbolizing the hope of an entire community, at the heart of the seemingly eternal sterility of the Elephant Graveyard. Taking foot on a patch of fresh moss, the lioness suddenly froze, her ears perked up. A whisper was echoing under the vault, although Kiara seemed alone here... And not just one voice... _Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them_, at the same time close, and as distant as the icy stars of the Great Kings.

It was then a maelström of mixed sensations and foreign recollections, which exploded in the spirit of the lioness as she felt a presence enter her mind, both close and infinitely far away... And a curious feeling came to her senses; the impression of no longer being totally herself. For a long moment, Kiara wandered in spirit through the maze of her own subconscious, travelling down dusky paths, and skirting abyssal wells filled with a blinding darkness. She witnessed unspeakable shadows loom over her menacingly, and the lioness experienced a moment of dread in front of the horrors that her own soul seemed to harbor.

She then saw some sort of luminous, vaguely defined figure appear in front of her... The impression of despair and loneliness that emanated from the entity forced her to feel a degree of compassion like she had never experienced before, and Kiara plunged towards it with mixed feelings of pity and gratitude.

"_You who Hear…_" the spectral hyena murmured, a thousand voices united into one.

Kiara looked into the yellowish, pulsating lights that were the eyes of the entity. Around her, the temperature seemed to have dropped noticeably, as if the presence would have absorbed all heat.

"Who are you?" the lioness murmured; a few seconds later, she would come to wonder if she had really said those words, or simply _thought_ them... Her mind seemed to float away from her body, and everything around her appeared to be made of the very fiber of dreams...

"_We have several names._" the ghost replied. "_We are Them who Wait, what remains of the matriarchs of ages past; And You who Hear, you are looking for answers._"

Kiara shuddered, the cold penetrating up to the lowest layers of her skin... "Why was your people exiled?" the lioness asked, fully aware of such a question's direct nature...

"_There is fire within you, daughter of a King_; _beware it does not consume you_..." The ghost warned her. "_You are venturing on a rough terrain_, _and knowing the truth could have compromising implications for both you and the honor of your Pride. And you would suffer more from it than anyone else._"

"The truth does not have to appeal to me." Kiara said. "If I have come this far, it is to hear it; not to avert my eyes because it could jeopardize an illusion that I am fond of. I am here to know the reason for your exile, not to taunt you."

"_Then, Behold._"

At these words, Kiara felt a spasm surge through her whole being, and once again she felt that sensation of no longer being identified; in silence, like a dreamless fetus in its yolk sack, her mind travelled outside the cave...

The Elephant Graveyard now stretched below her, but it was merely a reflection of it, even more atrocious than the original, with overturned perspective and grotesque angles... Colors were non-existent, replaced by an infinity of grey shades, from the most blinding white to the most fathomless black. The mist clung to the bones in long, winding columns that sprang up towards blackish, dark red-veined skies. And here and there, Kiara could distinguish vague shapes, that miserably wandered the mire, uncertain and lean. From their groups arose a sinister threnody, a chorus of moans and cries that revealed unending sufferings. In front of this nightmarish vision, the lioness froze in horror.

"Who are they?" she gasped, a frightened sadness in her eyes.

"_These are the souls of our departed. All those who died in this place._" the specter at her side responded.

"But why are they still here? Don't they know they are dead?" Kiara asked.

"_They are trapped._" the ghostly hyena explained. «Forever chained to the sufferings of their own children."

In silence, Kiara contemplated the tortured and emaciated hyena silhouettes. They seemed so alone, and appeared to be unaware of her presence, or even of their very own state for that matter, except perhaps for the endless vicious circle in which they were imprisoned : indeed, as Kiara looked more closely, she realized that their eye sockets were empty, simply occupied by bottomless pits of nothingness in place of eyes.

"_For a parent, there is no hell worse than the suffering of his child._" The ghost said. "A_s long as their descendants live in misery, these souls __will _remain trapped between this life and the one that comes After."

"Can we help them?" Kiara asked.

The spectral hyena remained silent for a long moment, her bright eyes centered onto the lioness, and seemingly probing the very depths of her soul. "_The answer lies in ages past and is no longer ours. No more than the fate of your Pride belongs to the Great Kings. Only one who walks among the living is able to unravel the truth; to mend what was sundered, to restore the possibility of a dialogue between old enemies, and put at rest Those who Yearn in vain._" The ghost responded. "_If you really want to know the truth, hear the words of your Father; and ask him about Ahadi._"

Kiara's ears perked up. "Who is Ahadi?" She asked. But her ghostly interlocutor did not answer, merely focusing her attention onto the lioness' abdomen.

"_You who Hear; you bear the hope of our clan; and of your Pride._" The specter murmured. "_May your heart be worthy of it._"

"What do you mean?" Kiara asked, puzzled.

"_You know already._"

The specter seemed to shift away without actual movement, disappearing into a direction of space that Kiara could not comprehend. "_We will talk no more. The fate of the living belongs to the living_." Her voice resounded one last time, while it gradually returned to nothingness.

Kiara felt a muscular spasm surge through her body, as though she had been numbed for an indefinite time. She was alone again in the middle of the cave, and perhaps she had always been... Or had she? All she remembered now had the uncertain and ever-shifting texture of a dream, at the center of which floated a single name: Ahadi...

* * *

Shenzi was still deep in thought when Kiara emerged again at the base of the Elder Skull. The lioness stretched herself and snorted, getting rid of the dirt that stained her coat before centering her look on the Matriarch. Calmly, Shenzi turned around.

"So?" the hyena muttered. "Been havin' fun? Or did you just waste your time trudgin' through the mud for nails?"

Kiara nodded. "I need to talk to my father."

Shenzi let out a wry laugh. "Ha! Cuz you really think you can help us?... That's good one. Do what you want, it ain't like it's gonna change anything... " she replied with a grimace of exasperation, before suddenly turning serious again. "But I warn ya. You better not cause our clan to suffer even more just cuz you wanna play the good Samaritan... Cuz you can rest assured I'll get you."

Kiara took a deep breath, fixing her gaze onto the hyena before responding. "I do not expect you to lend me a blind confidence, and I could not blame you for that. But I give you my word that I will not betray you, Shenzi."

The hyena remained silent for a long moment, staring into space. "Yeah... The word of a lion, alright... Stop livin' in topsy-turvy land, will ya? I've heard that one before." She eventually whispered back, shaking her head.

* * *

Still surrounded by the group of hyenas, Kovu could not take his eyes off Windaji, who continued walking in circles around him. During his whole life, the young lion hadn't felt so alone save for one single previous occasion: when his mother Zira had disavowed and disfigured him...

"Your Majesty, please help us..." Kovu mentally pleaded.

"_Silence!_"

The answer had come to his ears as clearly as if whoever had spoken would have done so a few inches away from his head. But save for the hyenas, nobody else was around. Kovu froze on spot, confused...

"_Your Majesty, is that you? But how_..."

"_No, it's not. And quit moaning, you fool!_"

That voice… Kovu knew it all too well; severe, incisive as an obsidian shard, and filled with malice. He had heard it too often during his early childhood. Kovu imperceptibly gritted his teeth, trying to repel the insidious presence that invaded his mind.

"_Let me be, you monster! You're dead, and I owe you nothing!_"

"_And what exactly do you know about death, Son? You're alive, as far as I know..._"

"_I am not your son!_"

Scar let out a sardonic laugh...

"_You may deny the truth at leisure, Kovu. But one way or another, I shall always be there..._"

"_What do you mean?..._"

"_Whether you like it or not, I took you in, I raised you, and made you who you are today. You are Us._"

"_Lies! I disowned you, Scar!_"

"_You may disown me till your heart is content, young idiot. But you may not deny your origins. Whatever you may think, you have a burden to carry. As everyone else._"

"_And what is this burden?_"

Scar's voice remained silent for a moment, before resounding again in the depths of Kovu's soul. "_It is what you will do of it. The fate of the living belongs to the living._" It then seemed to fade away in a succession of echoes of cosmic proportions, and Kovu remained silent, confused and shaken to the point of no longer being aware of the hyenas' presence around him.

A violent detonation then snapped him out of his apathy, as a crimson bolt pierced the night in his back; nearby, one of the hyenas instantly fell to the ground with a muffled groan.

Immediate panic ensued... The horde of predators moved off like one single individual, instantly scattering in all directions; in vain, Windaji ordered retreat to the others, only accentuating their panic. New detonations broke the silence of the night, accompanied by crimson flashes, and more hyenas collapsed, as if stricken by an invisible lightning.

Kovu himself remained motionless for a moment, unable to understand what was happening; then he saw them...

Their attackers had surrounded them from the highest mounds of the Graveyard. And they were unlike anything Kovu had seen before. Reddish lightnings briefly illuminated their silhouettes, revealing bipedal bodies, which could have been simian in appearance, _had they not been standing straight onto their hind legs_; Kovu also felt their pungent smell, so foreign to the Pridelands and their surroundings: a smell of smoke and death was floating after them, as they were advancing down the rocky slopes. The male lion himself felt something sizzle inches away from his head, and he let out a roar when a wave of pain travelled through his left ear. Something warm trickled down his mane, tacking it ; for a while, Kovu remained unable to perceive any sound at all, apart from an intense buzzing that bore through his skull. Staggering at the center of a magma of muffled and watery sounds, he caught a glimpse of Windaji as she rushed towards one of the burrows nearby; tucking her head in, the female hastily pulled out a pair of terrorized baby hyenas, that she began pushing in front of her...

* * *

Kiara itself had been startled as the din of detonations had broken the silence of the night; then, without exchanging a single word, Shenzi and herself had begun running amid that chaos of smoke and thunder.

"What's going on?" Kiara inquired, briefly turning to Shenzi.

"Do I look like I know?" the hyena grunted back as she struggled to keep pace, hampered by her swollen abdomen...

Around them, the air seemed saturated with ozone, just like after a heat storm, but when she finally got to see the crimson flashes illuminating the night on the other side of the canyon, Kiara quickly realized that the cause was quite different: someone or something was storming the place, leaving a trail of death in its path...

For a split second, Kiara was aware of a stooped silhouette appearing just in front of her, and she froze, on the defensive; Windaji was standing there, accompanied by a quintet of fluffy baby hyenas huddled between her legs ; at the sight of Kiara, the female hyena let out a roar of anger, her mane bristling. "Don't you touch them, witch!" She spat, snapping her jaws a few inches away from the lioness.

"Windaji!" Shenzi intervened firmly, forcing the other to report her attention onto her. "What is happening?"

"Humans, Matriarch..." Windaji replied in a whisper. "They appeared all of a sudden... We were caught by surprise."

Shenzi cringed... "Lead the kiddos to safety... I'll get in touch with the others!" She answered.

The younger hyena complied without a word, casting a last hateful glance towards Kiara, before hurrying to the limits of the canyon, still pushing the hyena cubs in front of her while whispering soft words of comfort to them. Kiara looked away, biting her lips as she couldn't help but feel a pang of esteem for this female's devotion to these little ones, in spite of all the hatred she seemed to bear in her heart... And suddenly, the lioness realized the full extent of their situation.

"Oh, no... Kovu!" she gasped.

Shenzi gave her a quizzical look. "What's the problem?"

"I have to find my companion and make sure he's okay! I'll be back as soon as possible..." the lioness replied.

Shenzi stared at her in silence for seconds, before giving her a half-smile. "Suits me, girl... I know the feeling: I got someone too… Go save your boyfriend!" The hyena replied with a nod.

And Kiara rushed towards the Graveyard's center...

* * *

Kovu was scared; his wounded ear ached, hanging limply on the side of his head, and for a split second he remain paralyzed with terror, thinking of just curling up on the floor and await the end. Then his survival instinct kicked in, and the male lion desperately tried to put distance between himself and the Humans; new shots sizzled right above his head, and he felt the air displacement...

Spotting a breach on the side, Kovu rushed towards it, hoping to get out of the maze of canyons and reach the precarious safety of the bush, but his hopes were crushed upon realizing he had just come to be astray into a dead-end; cursing his bad luck, the male lion looked up at the edge of the ravine, several meters above him; no chance to reach it...

And suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. Turning around, the lion found himelf directly facing one of those Humans. This biped creature was so different from him that Kovu could not even apprehend its strange anatomy, and thus he remained unable to react. Two other Humans then showed up, following the first one.

Emitting a growl of both fear and anger, the male lion recoiled towards the bottom of the rocky pass, his eyes trailing wildly from one to another of his assailants; never before had he seen these animals so similar to monkeys, but which stood upright onto their hind legs.

"_I'm so sorry, Kiara ... I did not want it to end this way..._"

Such was Kovu's last thought, just before a clear spot blocked his vision; there was the indistinct flow of a golden mane, and the flash of gleaming fangs opening onto a furious roar.

_It was Simba..._

At the sight of the large lion, the attackers froze as a triptych of wax figures before letting out a yelp of terror; a split second later, they were scurrying away...

Kovu then felt himself thrown to the ground; Simba had pounced on him, teeth bared in a snarl of anger, and mercilessly slashed at his temple. Kovu remained stunned for a few moments, only vaguely perceiving the roar of his King through the reddish veil that enveloped his mind.

"_Where is Kiara?_"

"Your Majesty? I'm Sorry... I..." Kovu stammered, just before Simba's paw once again struck at his face.

"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER? Answer me, fool!"

The young lion staggered, immense waves of pain surging throughout his whole being. In vain, he tried to crawl away from Simba.

"She is... gone. With the hyena..." He finally whispered.

A leaden screed seemed to fall upon them, while Simba's face changed into a mask of pure hatred. For a time that seemed to stretch to infinity, he was another one; a vile, bloodthirsty beast that had remained dormant for decades, and was now waking up to give free rein to his anger, without compromise nor judgment. Faced with this noxious parody of the noble face he loved, Kovu felt something break within himself...

Then the monstrous beast vanished just like it had appeared; Simba's expression was once again adamant, as he gave Kovu a rough shove.

"Get up!"

The younger male obeyed without a word as Simba ruthlessly pushed him again. His head low, Kovu limped out of the dead-end with Simba in tow; Kovu could almost feel the fiery eyes of his sovereign upon him; marking a pause, he let his gaze trail along the devastated landscape ; but Kiara was nowhere in sight... Flattening his ears, he then gave Simba a pleading look.

"Your Majesty... Father, i'm sorry... Kiara is..."

Simba sent him a pointed glare that was forbidding any further discussion.

"_Move, you imbecile!_"

Mortified, Kovu lowered his gaze and followed his King in silence, a magma of tangled thoughts bubbling under his burning skull, while the first raindrops of a heat storm began striking along his mane and spine.

In one single night of time, his world had collapsed...

* * *

_**Are Kiara and the hyenas going to pull out and reach safety in time ?**_

_**And if they do, how is Simba going to react when confronted by his daughter?**_

_**Stay tuned for Chapter Five : Hours of Despair.**_


	5. Hours of Despair

**Chapter Five : Hours of Despair**

* * *

Detonations had ceased, but Kiara could still feel the smell of smoke and death hovering in the air, like a silent and invisible threat on membranous wings, while she was struggling to find her way through the winding maze of canyons bordering the Elephant Graveyard. To top it all, the storm kept getting stronger, and heavy drops of heat were now lashing hard at the lioness' backbone. But it would have taken more than that for her to give up; Kovu had followed her that far, and although she had, at first, considered the choice of her companion with a certain contempt, she now felt compelled to assume full responsibility for what had happened here. _No, Kovu had not followed her here, she had driven him here_, perhaps unconsciously banking on the young lion's love for her... She had taken advantage of his affection and now felt bad about it... For, was there a single cause, as noble and selfless as it could be, that would have been worth putting her companion in danger? No. Certainly not...

But Kiara was suddenly pulled out of the flow of her thoughts when she once again reached the limits of the graveyard; behind the acrid smell of smoke and death floated another kind of smell... The smell of life, but not animal life ; cautiously, the lioness flattened herself to the ground as she crossed the last few meters separating her from the natural basin at the center of the area, and gazed around from the coverage of a rocky ledge...

The ground was littered with the corpses of hyenas who had not had the chance to escape the deadly shots. And among them, the Humans now stalked the area.

Kiara had never encountered them before, yet she couldn't suppress a shudder at their sight ; they stood on their hind legs, and moved about in a hideous parody of animal locomotion, with a gait the lioness could have easily considered against nature, should apes themselves had not moved in a an almost similar fashion. Even while watching them from such a short distance now, she was still unable to really make out their uncanny appearance. Strange shouts and laughter reached Kiara's ears as she contemplated the scene through a shower of rain. One by one, the bodies of the hyenas were grabbed and dragged out of sight by the Humans.

A tear silently rolled down Kiara's cheek, and the lioness looked away with a dull roar, revolted into the very depths of her soul by the Humans' behavior... As strong as the antagonism between her Pride and the Graveyard clan had been in the past, what these Humans had done to the hyenas was vile beyond words.

Shaken, the lioness remained motionless while the Humans left the area. Finally, after everything had turned quiet again in the Elephant Graveyard, Kiara got up and walked to the center of the basin, ignoring the oily rain that was beating her sides. Nothing else lived in this place now, aside from a mingled smell of blood and smoke... There was but the sound of the rain on the rocks, the moaning of the wind along the canyons, and far away, the rumble of thunder above. For a time that seemed to stretch to infinity, the lioness scanned the devastated area, dreading to spot Kovu's body as well; in vain...

Torn between anxiety and hope, the lioness remained motionless for a long moment; only his mind was active... Finally, without turning back, Kiara rushed into the opposite direction, toward the canyons and their uncertain safety.

She had to keep her promise.

* * *

The heat storm that struck the area had calmed down when Kiara finally came out of the rocky maze. Now remained but a heavy, suffocating atmosphere, and a cloudy sky extending to the horizon. Not far away, a river rumbled, swelled with dark waters, and threatening to burst its banks after that heavy downpour.

Trusting her sense of smell, it was no long before Kiara could determine the direction taken by Shenzi and the survivors of her clan, as they tried to escape the Humans. When the lioness finally found them assembled in a compact group on the banks of the tormented river, Shenzi was the first to notice her presence, followed by several others who instantly backed up, frightened by the lioness ; obviously, any aggression instinct seemed to have abandoned them with the sudden onslaught in the Graveyard, and the once sneering and jeering hyenas now showed their true face to Kiara : poor, terrified and desperate creatures, who hardly seemed to understand what had befallen them ; but then, who could have, in the whole animal kingdom? These Humans had stricken without warning, dispensing death in their wake without discernment nor compassion. And for what purpose? Kiara couldn't tell either...

As the lioness approached, Shenzi gave her a mildly intrigued look...

"Well, look who's here..." the hyena muttered. "Didn't seriously think you'd return..."

"A promise is a promise." the lioness replied.

Shenzi rolled her eyes... "And I thought I was a crazy old thing... But ya sure seem to be quite the record-breaker yourself..."

As before, Kiara felt a rush of empathy for her interlocutor; indeed, despite the appearances, she felt that hyena was not inherently evil... Mayhap was she simply hurt deep inside, her heart hardened by the harshness of life among the Elephant Graveyard, and embittered through multiple betrayals, that had driven her to lose all faith in the future and in others. Perhaps also deceived, and lured astray by some manipulative tyrant, one of the undisputed rulers of these lands who were never the last to give into self-congratulation, yet without being able to account for their own share of darkness.

With a sigh, the lioness let her gaze wander along the tumultuous river as it meandered into a straight waterfall down below.

"How are you doing?" the lioness finally asked, turning to Shenzi.

"We've seen better days..." the hyena responded, shaking his head. "A dozen of us are missing... Talkin' about a rotten night! " She then paused, turning her attention to the group of refugees. "The kids are hungry, too... They haven't eaten since yesterday." she added gloomily.

Perking her ears, Kiara herself gazed at the quintet of tiny baby hyenas, fearfully huddled up between Windaji's legs ... Some of them were crying, while the female was trying to comfort them. Upon noticing the lioness' presence, she however let out a loud, guttural growl, her mane bristling in anger.

"Don't mind her." Shenzi told Kiara. "It is clear that we don't like your kind, round these parts, but if anyone has reason to hate lions, it's Windy for sure... Her daughter was eaten by a pride of renegade lions when she was still a wee baby." Pausing, the Matriarch briefly eyed Windaji before looking back to Kiara. "See, we all have a past we can't ignore. So I don't quite get why you're being so stubborn..."

"For the same reason that you fight to survive instead of just accepting death." Kiara replied softly. "If I persist, it is because you persist yourself. You must _help me_ help you."

Shenzi just shook her head with an air of consternation... She seemed about to retort something when a cry was heard from the group of hyenas on the bank.

"_They're back!..._"

Alerted, Kiara looked up, and spotted a series of silhouettes that seemed to move up the rocky slopes bounding the graveyard, quickly getting closer... And floating in the air, was this strange and sickening smell that characterized Humans. Shenzi saw them too, and she let out a grunt of frustration. "They're at it again..." she muttered, before turning to her clan. "We can't stay here any longer! We gotta get across if we don't wanna end like the others!"

Briefly losing interest in the baby hyena that she was grooming, Windaji gave Shenzi an uncertain glance.

"But Matriarch, the river is in flood! And the children can't swim..."

Shenzi shook her head vehemently. "It's either this or welcoming death. And that's no option! We gotta take the risk."

Approaching Windaji, the Matriarch eyed the baby hyenas. "How many can ya carry?" she asked.

The other female nodded her head. "Two... Perhaps three if I take one on my back..." she replied uncertainly. "But frankly, I ..."

"But-but-but... There's no time for "but"! Hurry up, for cryin' out loud!" Shenzi interrupted her, ending the debate.

"_I can help._"

Surprised, Shenzi turned to face Kiara, while Windaji's mane bristled under the effect of a barely contained anger.

"Calm down, Windaji!" Shenzi ordered her, before turning his attention to Kiara again. Both females stared at each other in silence for seconds, and the Matriarch eventually nodded. "Careful with them, okay? They aren't as beefy as lion cubs... " she said.

Kiara nodded, despite Windaji's murderous glance, and she leaned over to gently grab one of the babies between her jaws.

The sensation was... odd. It felt so strange to carry this hyena cub, yet her maternal instinct commanded her to act for the sake of the defenseless young. Hyena or not, it remained a tiny miracle of nature, a gift of life that was both fragile and infinitely precious, and that had to be protected at all costs. Just like in her dream, the lioness could feel the life pulse and flow through the small furry body, and this infinite trust in life was somehow intoxicating, and galvanizing.

"I told it already, and I'll repeat it again... You're a complete nutcase." Shenzi whispered at Kiara's address, lifting the remaining baby hyena between her own jaws. Then she gave her a smile. "_And heck, we could sure use more nutcases like ya, Kiki!_" She added with unfeigned sincerity.

The first hyenas quickly began taking to the water, as the night air was once again filling with detonations and crimson lightnings ; without hesitation, Kiara rushed to the bank just after Shenzi, who was already trying her best to reach the other side despite her swollen abdomen. Not far from them, Windaji herself had dived, and was struggling to keep afloat while carrying two hyena cubs between her jaws, and a third one directly on her back...

The swollen river was proving to be an advantage for them, as agitated as it was, and even though the crossing was tedious: in the dark, their silhouettes indeed became indistinct, and easily mistaken with the dark water swirls. Meanwhile, loud bangs continued streaking the air around them; Kiara herself felt a sudden shockwave travel a few inches away from her flank, when a deadly projectile sizzled past her and disappeared underwater with a string of dark bubbles; but the lioness was too determined to let this trouble her... Only one thing mattered at all: to reach the bush's safety, on the other side. The life of the child she was holding in her jaws depended on it.

With a final and supreme effort, Kiara finally reached the opposite bank, closely followed by Shenzi.

"Thinkin' I was complaining about being unable to bathe in the Elephant Graveyard... Sometimes, I should just shut my face..." the Matriarch grumbled while placing the baby hyena back on the ground before snorting furiously. Meanwhile, the other hyenas were gradually reaching the other side as well, trying to scatter through the surrounding bush to escape the Humans' assaults ; relieved that all had managed to cross without incident, Kiara gave Shenzi a smile, before gently putting the second baby down, and turning towards Windaji. The female was still struggling amid the roaring currents. She had almost reached the bank, when a particularly violent swirl overwhelmed her, causing the baby hyena on her back to be washed over into the river.

Horrified, Shenzi remained unable to move, while the young cub was inexorably driven towards the nearby cataract with a squeal of distress.

Resurfacing, Windaji rushed after him into the downdraft, desperately trying to catch the baby back, and approaching the river's limits with a frightening velocity. Meanwhile, Kiara had already dived back into the icy meanders, and was furiously swimming towards the female to provide assistance...

Fighting against the elements, Windaji managed to catch the baby mere seconds before it fell to its death below.

Then, a volley of shots resonated from the heights, several deadly projectiles sizzling all around her ; Windaji immediately felt her whole side go numb, while Kiara simultaneously surfaced on her right to help her stay afloat. The two females swam back with the strength of despair to the opposite bank, where Shenzi was still standing a glimmer of concern in her eyes.

Supported by Kiara, Windaji dragged herself out of the water, pushing the three hyena cubs in front of her; she then staggered when her legs gave way under her, and collapsed on her side. Approaching her, Shenzi bent over her subordinate, placing a paw onto her chest. Looking up at Kiara, the Matriarch slowly shook her head and remained silent; the lioness herself felt her heart sink upon seeing the female's right flank... Windaji planted her already half-glazed eyes into the lioness', staring at Kiara without really seeing her.

"Perhaps we could have been friends." the hyena murmured with a sigh... "If only things had been different..."

Tightening her lips, Kiara shook her head. "I beg you, be quiet... You're going to be alright..." she tried without conviction. "Live, and things will change."

But Windaji just shook her head weakly. "You think you can change the world... And you're wrong. Things will never change… In the end, you are not different from the rest of us: you're all alone in darkness."

Then her head fell back, and her chest collapsed permanently as the last spark of life in her eyes gently faded away; in silence, Shenzi bit on her lips, before turning around abruptly...

The lioness stood motionless for a long moment, tears rolling silently down her cheeks, as she stroked the back of the dead hyena...

"_And thus your poor soul fades into nothingness, just like the memory of your sacrifice, Windaji..._"

Straightening herself, Kiara then looked up at the stars of the Great Kings, which glittered amidst their sidereal abyss.

"_And you, starry Kings... Mufasa, and all the others... How many more will have to die to satisfy your pride_? _Will you ever __be _sated and capable of any compassion?..."

And the stars shone, seemingly taunting her from the coldest regions of space, but no answer came, save for the hoarse sound of the wind in the high grass.

"_If you've ever been alive, you are well and truly dead now._" The lioness concluded for herself, before lowering her gaze. Turning her attention to the bank, Kiara momentarily looked around for Shenzi; but the hyena matriarch was nowhere in sight...

* * *

From a grassy nook in the bush that stretched beyond the river, Shenzi was contemplating her clan's survivors, who had gathered at the center of a rut for the night; many weren't sleeping, their wounds making them suffer too much, while others were nervously exhausted and unable to doze off. Long, plaintive cries occasionally arose from their group, revealing all the fear, pain and despair that had been choking them since their frantic escape from the Graveyard. How many of these refugees had lost a companion, a parent, or even a son or daughter, Shenzi couldn't tell... She herself felt exhausted, helpless and powerless, and Windaji's brutal death had just eroded her morale even further.

In silence, the Matriarch laid on the ground, her muzzle resting between her legs while she was silently brooding over the events of that night and, beyond, the past years that had followed the exile of her clan. As far as Shenzi could remember, she had known but disappointments, shattered hopes and broken promises. But more than anything, she herself felt guilty; a Matriarch had to be infallible, and she knew she was far from it; on the contrary it seemed that, the more she grew in age, the more things would get worse for her clan... Every time a decision was to be taken, she seemed doomed to always make the wrong choice for the whole community, and with disastrous consequences. Hadn't she just gotten a final proof of it, a few moments earlier?

Her mind then drifted further, while the Matriarch let out a heavy sigh... She was now thinking about Banzai; how many times had she publically rebuffed and humiliated him, in the past? As a dominant female, she had always felt an instinctive need to impose her superiority to others, particularly males, who remained politically less powerful than their female counterparts.

It had always been this way; and yet, right now, she'd have given anything to know of his whereabouts. He was not just any male... He was her Banzai, with his qualities and faults, and with whom she used to share laughter, arguments, complicity, tenderness, tears and disappointments... And above all he was the father of her unborn child.

Her child, whom she had nothing to offer to, other than a battle lost in advance, and a perpetually uncertain future for her clan. A dark road in the middle of eternal darkness.

At that final thought, something seemed to shatter within herself; flattening herself even more into the ground, Shenzi buried her muzzle in the elbow of her paw... And for the first time in months, maybe even years, all her grief, all the bitterness she had accumulated so far, all this seemed to be suddenly brought to light. Then, the hyena did something she had always refused to do, in front of the many setbacks that life seemed bent on imposing on her kin: she burst into sobs, letting out the flow of tears she had repressed for so long...

* * *

When Banzai and his brother Ed finally reached the limits of the Elephant Graveyard, the stars had already started fading away one by one, their brightness becoming less noticeable as the black ink of the night gave way to an early dawn's shades of blue... As he entered the canyons delimitating the territory of his clan, the male hyena paused for a moment, and pouted, already anticipating Shenzi's reaction. Turning to Ed, he gave him a long, uncertain look, but the other male merely let out a nervous laugh in response. Sighing, Banzai shook his head sheepishly. Oh, gee, he was so going to get it!

Pumbaa and Timon were mopping a distance behind, the warthogs trotting briskly, while his meerkat companion was casually sprawled onto his back, a long stream of drool hanging from his lips as he was sound asleep.

But the duo was Banzai's last concern... He, who had promised to return with fresh meat, was ultimately coming back with a glorious assortment of bruises, and a considerable delay; as for trying to justify himself in front of Shenzi, he knew for sure she'd never believe him, even though he'd tell the truth... And the worst part was, she'd be in her good right to blame him. As usual, he had performed poorly, and had been unable to fulfill its responsibilities as a future father.

The first time he had met Shenzi, Banzai had told himself he had never seen anything as beautiful as the female hyena... He could not help but admire her charm, confidence and hunting skills, he who was, at best, a random male among others... For a long time, however, their relationship had been little more than the one maintained by good friends; it had taken Scar's treason, and a forced return to the Elephant Graveyard for Shenzi to really start warming up to Banzai... And, for a time, the male hyena had been almost happy, and had almost regained faith in life; Shenzi and he loved each other despite their opposite personalities, and sometimes he even came to love himself despite his many faults. And then... things had started deteriorating again; the whole clan was starving, Shenzi constantly suffered from her pregnancy, and Banzai felt powerless about it.

Yes, his girlfriend definitely deserved better than the dead loss that he was.

As he kept rehearsing these thoughts endlessly, it took him a certain time to notice the heavy silence that reigned over the Graveyard; but when at last the male hyena realized that something was wrong, he was overwhelmed by an all too familiar smell: the pungent and heady smell of blood and death...

Feeling an icy shiver run down his spine, Banzai hastened through the canyons, listening to the surrounding silence; Ed obediently followed, looking around nervously; as psychotic as he seemed to be, he also felt that something was not right. Pumbaa himself followed along without much thought, having since long learned and delegate the thinking part to Timon... And when they finally reached the natural basin formed by the Graveyard itself, Banzai felt his heart miss a beat.

Nothing else lived in this place, and only the moaning of the wind seemed to break the gloomy silence that had fallen on the area. Peculiar stains spattered the rocky ridges here and there, the characteristic stench of blood pouring out around in long tacky waves. And there was another kind of smell, partly concealed behind the first one, like a predator at bay; a more foreign smell, and yet identifiable among a thousand others since Banzai had been in contact with the Humans...

The male hyena stopped in the middle of the basin, his mind refusing to accept the unacceptable... Then he shook his head, staring into space.

"Who did that?..." Banzai blurted out loud enough to pull Timon out of his torpor; still half-asleep, the meerkat straightened up painfully and lost his balance, collapsing at Pumbaa's feet with a poorly articulated groan.

"Wassat?... We're almost there, Mom?" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with a grimace.

Ignoring the meerkat's antics, Banzai continued to glance about in disbelief, unable to bring himself to accept that eventuality... "WHO DID THAT?" He yelled again, the sound of his cry echoing endlessly along the rocky canyons. But no answer came save for a dead silence...

Shaken, Banzai remained silent and motionless for several minutes. It was a nightmare; it could only be a nightmare. Flattening himself to the ground, the male hyena lowered his head between his forelegs.

Standing up, Timon gave the male hyena a surprised look before looking around him... He then swallowed nervously, realizing where Pumbaa had led them while he was asleep. Then came a second realization, not as brutal as the first one, yet equally disturbing: Why was the Graveyard deserted?... His gaze lingering about the devastated landscape, the meerkat also noticed the stains of blood covering the stones, and some other strange prints... Then, holding back a scream of horror, he slapped his hands over his mouth and stood silent... Meanwhile, Pumbaa himself merely took a vague, circular look around, before letting out a loud flatulence. "Wonder if there are any bugs, round here... I'm kinda hungry." He muttered before proceeding to forage the ground with his tusks...

Swallowing again, Timon looked back at Banzai; and he was forced to admit that he felt sorry for the male hyena... Banzai may have been a real skunk to him and his colony in the past; but now he just looked like a big sad puppy...

"I... I'm sorry..." the meerkat whispered, cautiously approaching Banzai and slightly touching his big paw... "Whatever happened here... It sucks..."

"_Sure sucks!... There's not even a roach to chew on..._" Pumbaa interjected with a rueful look.

Banzai merely sniffled...

It was a sudden hysterical yelp that pulled him out of his prostration. "Ed?" the male hyena called, raising his head.

His brother was vigorously gesticulating, pointing his paw at something hidden behind a rock pile; with a grunt of impatience, Banzai walked round the mound and froze, in shock...

A female hyena was lying curled on herself, her head slouched against the rocky surface; her eyes were glazed, and her breathing was laborious and interspersed with groans of pain, as a thin trickle of blood ran down a hole on the side of her neck... A tiny furball was cradled in her paws.

Cautiously, Banzai approached, his gaze meeting the female's as she raised her head with difficulty.

"What happened? Who did it? " the male hyena softly asked.

The other hyena coughed painfully, each fit causing a violent throbbing, before she whispered in an almost inaudible voice...

"They came here..." came the response, uttered on a hoarse and tired tone. "Not fast enough to escape... with the others."

The female then paused and unfolded her paws. A hyena newborn was nestled there, sound asleep; at best, it seemed to be a few hours old... For long minutes, the female stared at it with an infinite sadness, stroking the light, fluffy down which covered the baby's body. Then, a new fit of coughs caused her to convulse, and for a few seconds, she seemed about to choke, as if some internal injury would have prevented her from breathing.

"Can't... feel anything... Now..." she added, raising her tear-misted, glazed eyes back to Banzai ... "Protect my child..."

Banzai shook his head. "No, sorry... I can't ... I ..." the male hyena tried, attempting to step back. "_I can't take care of someone else's kid… Cuz I'm nothing but a coward, who can't even take care of his own family in the first place..._" He thought. Never before had he felt so ashamed at his own weakness...

"I ... please..." the female replied, before her sentence turned into a horrible gurgling sound. A violent spasm shook her whole body, and she suddenly went limp.

Nearby, Ed let out a soft whimper, grabbing his head in his paws...

In silence, Banzai contemplated the dead female for a long moment, before looking down at the sleeping baby between her legs; Then, carefully, he slipped his paw under the young animal's belly, lifting it up to his muzzle... Waking up, the hyena cub blinked his large dark eyes, and smiled.

So many things had happened in the space of a night, and now the male hyena discovered himself unable to truly understand the conflicting feelings that raced through his mind. Every atom of his being seemed to order him to react, to hold this newborn against him and protect him at all costs... And yet, simultaneously, each of these same fibers were screaming at him to drop it, and take to his heels to escape an additional responsibility that would have proved too much to take in charge.

As Banzai continued to stare at the little animal in silence, Timon slowly approached from behind, casting a sad look around the scene while biting on his lips. The male hyena then vehemently shook his head, before putting the baby hyena back on the ground

"_No. I can't._" He blurted out.

The meerkat blinked, in shock. "What? But he's just a lil' baby! You're not just gonna abandon him here, right? How can you be so heartless?" Timon strangled himself.

"Oh, shut your flap already, crumb! It's already bad enough this way!" Banzai growled through gritted teeth, before grabbing his temples between his paws. Swallowing heavily, he turned around...

Repressing his own tears, Timon eyed him with a mix of anger and pity. Then, with infinite care, the meerkat leaned over and lifted the baby hyena in his arms, before taking a look at Pumbaa who was still standing meters away, his snout covered in dirt.

"Mind helpin' me here, you wimp?..." the meerkat grumbled at the warthog's address. Pumbaa returned him a wide smile and came closer, standing on his knees to allow his friend to lay the small hyena on his spine. "Poor little guy, we'll take good care of you..." Timon sighed, wiping his eyes, before gently scratching the cub between his ears. "This said... You're kinda lucky. We're experienced uncles, you know!" He added on a lighter tone. "Aren't we, Pumbaa?"

"You bet!" the warthog added, standing up. "We've even been the King's uncles, eh, Timon? Honest!"

Timon giggled before elbowing the warthog up his ribs. "Yeah, well, don't get too full of yourself either, Mister Pig…" the meerkat told him, before turning his attention to the baby hyena. "Anyway... The name's Timon; but if you want you may call me Master, or Perfection Incarnate; and here's my buddy Pumbaa; okay, he isn't great when it comes to bodily smell, that's true; but he's pretty cool for a pig!"

Cracking a wide smile, the baby hyena curiously tilted his little head to the side, before licking the meerkat's muzzle.

"Yes, yes, I know, everybody loves me!" Timon replied with a laugh, before cocking an eyebrow. "And while we're at it ... You need a name too, huh?"

"Oh yes, yes!" Pumbaa approved. "He needs something really scary! This way we'll be first to have a fierce hyena to give the jitters to all those who look for trouble; we will show them, alright!"

"Yeaaaah, sure... You want to turn him into a psycho from the start, or what?..." Timon replied, rolling his eyes. "Nah, he needs something really classy. Such as Timon Jr, for example ... No, wait, even better! _Zawadi_!"

"Zawhat?" Pumbaa replied, puzzled.

"Zawadi... A guy from my colony was called like that, it means 'gift'." the meerkat replied with a smile, while stroking the little animal again with a curiously tender expression. "And this little guy sure is a nice gift of nature, I say..."

"Oh well... It's not that scary... But I like it!" the warthog concluded, punctuating his approval with a loud flatulence.

A few meters away, Banzai had listened in silence, not daring turn around, shame weighing over his whole being like a leaden screed... But could he seriously reconsider his choice, now that he had left his weakness appear in the eyes of all? What could he do? Approach the meerkat and apologize? Propose him to be an 'uncle' as well for this baby hyena? _Humbug_... No. The best he could do was try and reunite with Shenzi, and make amends. And he was pretty sure that imposing the presence of a little orphan to his companion was out of the question. Hyenas did not do these things, anyway...

"_Shenzi..._"

As his thoughts drifted back to his companion, the male hyena chew on his lips. Where was she now? Some of them had managed to escape the Humans... Was Shenzi among them?

She had to. Otherwise would have been a possibility that Banzai simply refused to admit; life without his companion's presence at his side seemed simply impossible to imagine...

With a sigh, Banzai finally raised his eyes towards Ed "Come on, Bro... No use stayin' here... We gotta find the others..." he said at the other male's address, before shaking his head slowly... "If there are any..." Whimpering softly, Ed glanced towards Timon and Pumbaa, who were still fussing over Zawadi. Then he turned to Banzai, giving him the sad puppy look.

"_No. I said no._" Banzai retorted. "Don't make things more complicated, Eddie..."

Reluctantly, Ed followed along...

Timon watched them leave, himself hesitating a moment before nudging Pumbaa. "Not that it delights me, but I reckon we'll be in their company for some time again, buddy..." the meerkat whispered, before climbing on the back of the warthog, just in front of Zawadi.

Banzai rolled his eyes upon seeing them reappear, but the male hyena seemed more irritated than truly angry. "Are you gonna stalk us for long?" He muttered at Timon's intention. Frowning, the meerkat remained silent, merely lifting his hand in a peremptory gesture.

"_Okay, okay, I get it, no need to rub it in... The road belongs to everyone, alright..._" the male hyena grumbled.

* * *

**_Will Kiara finally be able to confront Simba, and hopefully give a new hope to Shenzi and her clan?_**

**_What dangers still await Banzai and his misfortune companions on their road?_**

**_Find out soon in Chapter Six : Confronting the Past !_**


	6. Confronting the Past

**(Note from the author : Apologies for the delay since the last Chapter upload. As you may all know, real-life often tends to get in the way when you least desire it.) **

**Chapter 6 : Confronting the Past.**

* * *

The sun was already high in the skies when Kiara woke up; the lioness had fallen asleep at the bottom of a ground depression without even realizing it, the exhaustion and tension of the previous night having finally gotten the better of her. But that short sleep had not been the least restorative... During these few hours of respite, the lioness had been beset by nightmarish visions of hideously deformed ape-like creatures, and where Kovu kept drifting away from her in spite of her efforts to reach him, while the Great Kings giggled over their heads, dead stars scattered around into alien constellations she could not recognize.

Rising to her feet with a tired sigh, she casted a vague glance around her, noticing the presence of the hyenas not far... Her companions in misfortune had not attacked her during the night, despite the easy prey that she would have been, and if only her mind had not been fully focused onto less selfish considerations: before even thinking about anything else, Kiara wanted to be reunited with Kovu; and talk to her father. Hunger and thirst were wrenching her stomach, however, and the need to find something to eat was getting more and more compelling... And she could not afford to let these contingencies hamper her in the task that awaited ahead. Thus Kiara first went to look for a waterhole, hoping to find some lost and weakened ungulate on the way.

Not too far away, she finally came across a large pond of stagnant water, likely a blurred remnant of the previous night's downpour, where grass clippings and torn branches drifted freely.

She thought about her encounter with Shenzi, and with the specter of past Matriarchs, in the depths of the Elder Skull.

"_You bear the hope of our clan; and of your Pride._"

Such were the words of the ghost, which seemed to resound in the lioness' mind, as she leaned forward for a drink.

But then a strange feeling pervaded her, and she interrupted her movement upon facing her own reflection in the pond... There was something ... _changed_ about her; something different. She could feel it. It wasn't, however, a physical sensation or a visible change, but something much deeper and more subtle, as though she had suddenly developed a greater awareness of her own body, and of the extraordinary transformation that was taking place within it... All around her, the world itself suddenly appeared more vibrant, more colorful, as if her perception of reality itself had become more acute; Kiara discovered herself capable of feeling life itself blossom within the surrounding nature, and even the smallest blades of grass were becoming a wonder to behold, for the lioness could feel the same tiny vital process at work within them...

And for the first time, she realized that it was not only the lions in their Light who belonged here, but it was also the hyenas and their matriarchs, and beyond, all the creatures that inhabited these lands, down to the smallest insect. All these beings were intimately linked, in an infinitely precious balance, which was none other than the Circle of Life.

This very life that Kiara now felt growing within herself; a embryo of life that was still tiny, yet very real, and secretly throbbing inside her... Her child... _Her unborn children_.

Just nearby, something came floating in her direction, and Kiara discovered the still warm corpse of a young antelope that the storm had washed away.

* * *

Satiated, Kiara finally returned to the hyenas; at the same moment, Shenzi was slowly emerging from between the high grass; the Matriarch seemed devastated, dragging her swollen abdomen with difficulty as she looked to the lioness with red and puffy eyes; Kiara chewed on her lips at her sight, but kept silent about that last detail; surely, like anyone else, a hyena could feel bad, and weep...

The lioness however hadn't returned alone... An old baboon, whom silhouette was curved and bent by the weight of old age accompanied her, leaning onto a gnarled walking stick, which seemed itself as old and worn-out as its owner; a half-chewed root projected from his mouth, and his small bloodshot eyes peered around with a mixture of bemusement and kindness. When he marked a pause a few feet behind Kiara, Shenzi recognized him at last. It was Old Rafiki, one of the Kingdom's oldest subjects, a close friend to the King, and well-known for both its medicinal knowledge and overall extravagant demeanor. Interestingly, when Kiara had explained him the problem and asked for his help, the baboon had accepted without hesitation; it was good to see that not all animals in the Kingdom hated the hyenas, unlike their king...

"I brought a friend ..." Kiara explained. "He can help you."

Shenzi warily eyed the old monkey, and Rafiki gave her a little wave in return, his yellowish teeth baring into a broad smile; the Matriarch's expression softened a little, and she shook her head slowly.

"Guess that means I gotta let him fiddle around me with his big paws, eh?" she grumbled.

"You can trust him ..." Kiara reassured her. "He often came to visit my mother before I was born."

Emitting a quiet laugh, Rafiki approached the hyena, nodding his head as he contemplated her swollen belly: removing the root from his mouth, he then spat a long, brownish stream of saliva into the nearby river, then lightly tapped the ground with his stick, just beside Shenzi... Rolling her eyes, the Matriarch mumbled something unintelligible and complied, lying on her side.

Nodding his head again, the old baboon gently applied his gnarled hands on her abdomen, murmuring to himself for a few seconds before standing back up.

"Soon... Oh yes, quite imminent, in fact!" he said at last.

"Does it bode well?" Kiara asked with a hint of anxiety.

Raising a bushy eyebrow, Rafiki gave her a strange look, before turning back to Shenzi. "Lithe sinews... Strong and flexible muscles... A well-rounded bottom... This hyena is aerodynamically sane, and she has everything she needs where it's needed. The rest is only up to her."

"I must be going crazy..." Shenzi grumbled with an air of outraged dignity...

Kiara merely winced, somewhat disconcerted by Rafiki's words; but the old baboon's eccentricity was well established... Letting out another one of his cryptic little giggles, the monkey then walked away towards the rest of the hyenas...

Shenzi watched him disappear behind the tall grass, then turned to Kiara.

"Pride Rock's just south of here, why don't you just go home now?" She asked.

"It is my intention; but not to abandon you ... A lot happened in a matter of hours, and I need to talk to my father." Kiara said.

"Your father? The King?" The hyena replied in disbelief. "And what are ya hopin' for, exactly? That he'll give us shelter, perhaps? What is it you don't understand, in 'We are enemies?"

"Are we? I mean, you and I, Shenzi? " the lioness retorted.

Frowning, the Matriarch turned silent...

"You had it rough, I know... You see evil everywhere, and you have come to believe it is the norm..." Kiara replied gently. "I can't blame you... Anyone else would have reacted that way. Even I, sometimes I feel the whole world is against me; it not easy to be a future queen..."

"Because you still figure you know something about me?" Shenzi grunted.

Rolling her eyes, Kiara let out an exasperated sigh.

"No. I know nothing." she retorted. "I know nothing about you, because you refuse to open up to others. And to be honest, Shenzi, I'm getting sick of your constant self-pitying."

"_Oh yeah, no less!_" the hyena barked, her mane bristling. "See, I don't remember askin' you for anything. So correct me if i'm wrong, as they say, but it was you who wanted to be the lil' heroic princess! "

Kiara smirked in silence; the hyena was right, whatever she could think...

"Sorry... I got carried away." She said after a minute.

"Blah, drop it..." Shenzi grumbled. "I ain't the only one under pressure, as I can see..."

"Yes, I'm exhausted too..." Kiara replied "I just want you to understand that I can talk to my father on your behalf, and try to make him see reason; but I cannot do anything if you lose all hope before even trying..."

Shenzi shook his head. "What is hope, anyway?..." She mumbled.

"It is what drives me to help you without even knowing you, and what drives you to fight, in spite of everything that happens. " The lioness replied. "There's always hope, as long as you believe in it..."

Kiara paused, looking down at the hyena's belly. "You have to keep your hopes up, Shenzi; for you have the greatest reason to do so: _you're going to be a mother_."

Swallowing loudly, the hyena averted her gaze, perhaps to conceal tears that threatened to flow again... Kiara looked at her for a moment in silence, before walking away.

But Shenzi's voice suddenly forced her to turn around.

"_Kiki..._"

The lioness paused, staring at Shenzi.

"Thanks anyway..." the hyena added.

* * *

Kovu had not slept at all after his forced return from the Elephant Graveyard. The young lion was suffering from his wound, but it was little in comparison with those his soul itself had suffered during that night... The few hours he had spent confined inside his cave on Simba's order had seemed centuries to him, during which he had vainly tried to persuade himself that it was all just a nightmare that would end with the dawn; and then it would be another one of those bright and perfect days on the Pridelands; the Light would as always dispense its blessings to its children, and nothing would come to disturb the ambient harmony. Kiara would be at his side when he would wake up. Perhaps she'd even sneeze right in his face, just like the previous day! And all would be well. Just _well_.

But the sun was already high in the sky, mocking him, and the nightmare had not ended. Reality had befallen him with all its cruelty: Kiara was gone, and would not be back. She had disowned herself by challenging the King's authority, and for what? To help out a bunch of denatured scavengers! _Yes, that's what the hyenas were! Misshappen monsters, whose very existence was an insult to creation, and a plague to nature!_ If ever Kovu had needed a reason to hate them, that was a good one...

And Simba... His beloved King now appeared to him like a ruthless despot; he had not uttered a word, nor deigned to grant Kovu the slightest look during their return to Pride Rock. He had simply dismissed him without fanfare, ordering him to return to his cave and not come out. Then Nala had come at his side, trying to bring him some comfort ... But even her tenderness had done him no good.

Kovu hated the hyenas; he also hated Simba; and was also starting to hate Kiara for what she had done to him... And yet he knew in his heart that she had been right, which only added to his confusion. His companion was, in the end, accomplishing nothing but the duty of any queen worthy of that name: a duty of compassion and acceptance towards creatures in need, just as she had done towards himself, in the past... And had he any right to judge her, he who, unlike Kiara, was a good-for-nothing doubling with a scoundrel, pursued by a dark past, and giving himself an air of haughty complacency even though he merely was, and would always be the offspring of a felon?...

While Kovu stood prostrate, his face hidden in the angle of his front paw to stifle his sobs, a hideous presence came again hovering above him, and for a second, he almost felt Scar's noxious breath on his back.

"_How touching... Why is Kovu crying?_"

"Leave me..." the young lion sobbed.

"_Idiot._" Scar's voice replied on a peremptory tone. "_I did not teach you to give up the way you do it here._"

Still sobbing, Kovu turned on his back, his eyes fixed in the space above him, looking for a sign that would have betrayed the presence of his father other than the spectral voice that echoed in his mind. He saw nothing, of course. And yet...

"_I gave you a power, Son." _Scar added. "_A power that is higher than your King's, he who sets himself limits in the name of some pathetic morals_. _The throne is within your reach, and yet you're just happy to grovel at Simba's feet_... _And for what? For the love of a girl who fraternizes with your enemies, and drives you up the wall for whatever reason…_"

"No... Kiara loves me..." Kovu retorted, shaking his head. "I do not agree with her, it's true, and I hate to admit it, but... I know she's right. She is stronger than me, and she wants to do what is right, even if it might put our love in jeopardy."

For a moment, Scar's presence seemed to falter and snort, as if that sincerity itself was sickening to him. Then, after a long silence, his voice resounded again in Kovu's mind.

"_As you wish._"

"Aren't you upset?..." Kovu replied with a hint of surprise.

"_Should I?_"Scar replied with a sneer. "_I am dead, birdbrain_... _Do you think it would affect me to see you drag your pathetic little existence among the weak?_ _If it suits you, feel free to waste your potential, and live on flabbiness and infantile feelings._"

"This is my choice; and it does not depend on you, Scar."

"_Highly astute thinking, young cretin. You will thus be delighted to know that your beloved princess is faring well, and is concerned about your own fate._"

"Kiara is alive? Where is she? Speak, I beg of you!"

"_You're truly hopeless... Open your eyes and look!_"

The voice turned silent. Beyond the dull veil that had obscured his senses, Kovu then perceived a vague silhouette, which stood over him... In silence, Kiara stepped into the cave's dim light, setting an uncertain look on her companion.

"I'm here." She simply declared.

For seconds, emotions succeeded at light's speed on Kovu's face. Surprise, relief, anger, and then, finally, a huge wave of distress, and a flood of tears the male lion failed to contain any longer. Words failed Kovu as he pounced on his partner, at the same time throwing her to the ground with the brutality of a predator, and hugging her against him with all the tenderness of a worried spouse. Simultaneously, Kiara noticed his bloodied ear, and she herself felt tears of remorse invade her eyes...

"I'm sorry, Kovu... So sorry... I did not want to hurt you..." the lioness whispered, pressing her cheek against her prince's mane.

"It's alright..." he answered gently. "There is only one thing that could have killed me, and you know which one..."

Purring in anguish, he tightened his grip further on Kiara.

"You never left me, Kovu... You were at my side all this time..." she whispered back, before regaining her composure. "Time is of the essence. I need to talk to Father."

A vague gloom appeared inside Kovu's eyes, but he nodded...

* * *

Upon entering the royal den, the lioness and her companion were immediately struck by the heavy and embarrassed atmosphere that pervaded the place. The birds who usually delighted the court of their singing were nowhere in sight; Zazu himself stood aside, perched on a rocky outgrowth a few meters above the ground as he casted nervous glances around him; a few lions and lionesses stood there, speaking quietly, and not daring look towards the opposite end of the den. For Simba's royal figure, who stood there now, did not reflect anything other than a fathomless austerity, far removed from the benevolent and serene expression he usually showed in the presence of his Pride.

From a distance, Kiara overheard bits of conversation among the audience, and was not surprised to realize the rumor of her running away had traveled faster than her. As her presence was noticed, a long murmur ran through the den, followed by a heavy silence while dozens of eyes turned towards her in unison.

Without a word, she withstood the hostile stares of the Pride as she walked towards Simba. Kovu himself decided to stay away; even though Kiara's return had been a great relief, he was still feeling uncomfortable...

If Simba had also noticed the presence of his daughter, he hardly let it show through. His face remained impassive, frozen in an icy expression. Yet, for a moment, Kiara also discerned something else; relief, perhaps?...

The lioness stopped a few yards away. "Father."

In front of Simba's silence, Kiara took the lead.

"Father, we need to talk seriously."

But Simba shook his head. "No, Kiara, my child... You do not have to apologize. I want you to know that I do not resent you. At least, no longer... I had much to think, you know."

Surprised, the lioness tilted her head, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Could it be that Simba had finally come to feel remorse?

"Yes, I've been thinking, and I came to the conclusion that you just needed more time to accept the truth." the King continued. "And thus I am ready to forgive you everything, including having sided with our enemies."

"Then you obviously have understood nothing." the lioness flatly retorted.

Another murmur ran through the assembly, before Simba silenced his subjects with a peremptory gesture... Then he turned his attention back to Kiara, frowning.

"I have not sided with anyone, Father." the lioness said. "I only wanted to help the hyenas because they suffer. Is that a betrayal to help people in need? And although I can understand your anger towards me, I want to know what drove us to exile the hyenas outside of these lands."

"You have nothing to demand in regard to this matter." The King said, slightly raising his voice. "This decision was taken long ago, and you know nothing of the circumstances that motivated it."

"I already know much, Father." Kiara replied. "Believe me, it is often just a matter of opening your eyes and having a heart to see many things beyond the tranquil beauty of the Pride Lands. But I have seen and heard much more..."

"What? What have you heard? " Simba asked.

"The Great Kings do not have the exclusivity of wisdom." the lioness responded softly. "There is a certain name, at the origin of the hyenas' exile. And this name is Ahadi."

Simba stared in space for a while.

"My grandfather. The father of my father."

"So I want to know." Kiara added. "What has really happened the day Ahadi decided to banish an entire community from the Pridelands?"

Simba remained silent for a long moment, as if weighing his words... Kiara waited without averting her eyes.

"Since you wish to know..." the King said at last with a sigh. "During the time Ahadi still ruled these lands, our respective communities were still enjoying a relative peace, that only a few skirmishes occasionally troubled... But this peace was suddenly shattered by the appearance of outsiders on our land..."

Simba paused, allowing his daughter some time to consider his words before going on.

"They were Humans ... You see, some do not have as much respect for the Circle of Life as we do... But Humans themselves seem to have even less, as sad as it may sound. For a purpose that probably escapes our comprehension, they began plundering and slaughtering indiscriminately. We were powerless in front of them... Their actions provoked considerable damage within the Kingdom, and the Circle of Life itself was soon put in jeopardy. Then followed a period of starvation for all of us..."

Kiara listened in silence, as everything in this story seemed to converge towards a terrible conclusion.

"Hunger is a terrible thing, Kiara." Replied Simba. "It can corrupt the most admirable of souls. And just like a single spark can ignite dry grass, hunger revived long forgotten enmities between us... Throughout the kingdom, animal communities came to suspect one another; sufferings and starvation deprived them of any hope of dialogue... Tensions grew day by day, and all demanded justice. Thus, faced with the pressure of his subjects, Ahadi found himself forced to take a radical decision against the least appreciated of us all. And so the hyenas were exiled in the depths of the Elephant Graveyard where they were deprived of all light."

There was another pause, and Simba's look once again drifted into empty space, tinted with something that could be have been remorse, before landing again on Kiara.

"You have your answer now, my child." the King said. "It is up to you to build your own judgment on this story."

"What is there to judge?" Kiara simply responded. "Ahadi appointed a scapegoat to ease tensions." She murmured in consternation... There was however no anger in her voice; just an appalled resignation.

Simba sighed. "The word 'scapegoat' is a bit strong, Kiara. None of these hyenas really were innocent; nor completely guilty either, it is true... But you must understand that it was a necessary evil for a greater good."

"A necessary evil for a greater good?" the lioness replied, shaking her head with an air of denial. "An evil that lives on today and never ends, Father. No punishment can last forever, and there should also be a time for mercy and forgiveness... Or is the conceit of your selfish little empire too precious in your eyes?"

An outraged mumble resounded through the assembly, and Kovu himself cringed in his corner, expecting to see the King unleash his anger after such bold words; but Simba remained silent, although his mane imperceptibly bristled under the effect of a growing fury.

"We have no right, Father." the lioness added. "No right to decide who should be given or denied the Light. But if you keep thinking that Ahadi's decision was the right one... Then, Your Majesty, I sincerely pity you. Because the same thing may be happening again just as we speak."

Kiara's words immediately triggered a new wave of mutters among the assembly, and some of the lions turned to Simba. The King remained silent, his nostrils dilating gently into the cave's heated air.

"These Humans, the same Humans who once raged here, are at this very moment on our land, Father." Kiara added. "So let me ask you, what will you do now? Pray your beloved Great Kings? Or perhaps find a new scapegoat to banish out of the Pridelands, like your forefather did in his time?"

Kiara paused, casting her glance over the gathering, before going on.

"If you still have a shred of affection for me, prove to me that you are a greater king than Ahadi was, Father. Prove to me that you are capable of offering asylum to refugees. Prove to me that in the face of adversity, you are able to unite, rather than divide, and sympathize rather than condemn."

A hubbub suddenly resounded at the entrance of the den, and a middle-aged lioness nimbly crossed the distance to go place herself alongside Kiara. She sketched a hasty curtsey before speaking.

"Your Majesty ... Forgive me for interrupting. My hunting party spotted a group of hyenas next to the northern borders of our land... About thirty individuals."

At these words, Simba's face hardened even more as he reported his attention on Kiara...

"Did you allow outcasts to enter our land, my child?" he growled.

"I did what any sovereign should do when faced with others' sufferings, Father." The lioness responded. "The first quality of a queen must be compassion. That is what you used to tell me, right? But what is this compassion worth, if it is not given to all indiscriminately? Do you believe your precious Light to be any better than darkness if it is not shared by everyone?"

"Kiara..." Simba replied. "My father ruled with justice throughout his entire life. And before him, his father also ensured the sustainability of our laws and values during his reign. Their wisdom brought prosperity to our Pride, and allowed our land to keep its beauty whenever the Circle of Life was jeopardized. Do you intend to destroy all of this?"

"You do not understand me, Father ..." Kiara sighed. "This world ... _our_ world is a world _with the hyenas_; not _against _or_ despite the hyenas_. Accept it, or continue to deny the truth and then it will be hellish for everyone."

She paused, her gaze lingering once more around the place before landing again on Simba. The King kept silent...

"These souls are also part of that Circle you cherish. What is their place, according to you? "

"The one they're destined to: the abyss." Simba said.

At these words, Kiara felt something break within herself.

"I see." the lioness finally said after a few seconds, on an almost inaudible tone. "You are indeed just like the Great Kings: uncompromising. You can therefore keep your power, and I will keep my conscience, Your Majesty." she then walked away toward the exit, ignoring the disapproving mutters that rose as she walked past the other lions.

"_Kiara_..." Simba called out, a slight tremor in his voice...

"I did not want it, Father." she murmured without looking back. "You did."

From his position, Kovu himself slowly shook his head before following his companion.

"_I'm sorry, Father_..." he whispered.

Then, for the first time, the King's impassive mask wavered and fell. His haughty silhouette seemed to partly cower, and he bent over. Nearby, the other middle-aged lioness remained silent, even though she had noticed the King's distress.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty... I'm awaiting your orders... Should we assault them?" she tried, not without a hint of hesitation. It took Simba several seconds to answer, but when he finally looked at his subordinate, the King seemed to have aged several years in mere instants...

"No. Hold on..." He replied to the lioness. "The fool that I am will go there himself."

In one leap, Simba left his rock and covered the distance that separated him from the outside, despite his interlocutor's surprised look. Not far from the threshold of the den, his children stood in silence at the edge of the rocky promontory. It was upon hearing her name that Kiara turned around.

In silence, Simba approached his heirs.

"Very well, Kiara; very well." He murmured after a moment. "Lead the way."

* * *

Timon and Pumbaa had not left Banzai and his brother since their departure from the Elephant Graveyard. Not that the meerkat particularly enjoyed the sleazy duo's company, but being accompanied by a pair of hefty hyenas always seemed safer to him than being alone with his warthog friend, let alone a very young baby hyena, while those Humans were probably still lurking around the area.

Banzai himself had not spoken a word in the meantime; concern and moral exhaustion cohabited in his expression... He was probably missing his girlfriend, and Timon, while being himself a confirmed bachelor, could understand that. True enough, the male hyena was a rascal, but he was also, and foremost, a being with feelings. No animal was inherently bad for no reason; Timon knew that as well, and what did he know of Banzai, exactly? He, who seemed to love tormenting the members of his colony so much, perhaps also suffered deep inside.

The meerkat was soon pulled out of the flow of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of Pride Rock in the distance; with a sigh of relief, he looked up to Zawadi, who stood astride behind him on Pumbaa's back, and casted curious glances around.

"Look, son... See that big rock over there? Well, we'll be safe once we reach it!" the meerkat announced with unfeigned joy, before taking a look at Pumbaa. "You okay, down there? Hope we aren't too heavy?"

"Not at all!" the warthog replied with a grin. "You are very light, like small balls of gas! And I think Zawadi likes me too... He even wee-weed twice on me already!"

"Oh yeah... Cheers. Thanks for telling me." Timon mumbled, pulling away. "Hm. Looks like we'll have to teach ya a couple things regarding hygiene..." He added at the baby hyena's address, slightly poking its muzzle with the tip of his index. Zawadi merely let out a happy little laugh.

In echo, a deeper laughter was heard just nearby, forcing Timon to give Banzai an annoyed look. "Well, what's so funny now?" the meerkat retorted. "It's normal for a lil' hyena boy to have trouble controlling this stuff! Don't go pretend you were an exception as a baby..."

Emitting a slight huff, the male hyena fell silent. Then he threw a discreet glance at Timon and Zawadi, and a small smile crept on his muzzle. Somehow, they were... cute? Odd feeling... Not something he had experienced often, at any rate! Actually, Banzai did not remember ever having envisioned the meerkat as anything more than a little too meager a snack to be worth the trouble; as for Pumbaa, he simply did not care about him... And yet now that he could see the duo care for that hyena cub, Banzai could not help but feel a rush of admiration for this unlikely pair. Taking someone else's kid in charge, now that commended respect...

Suddenly perceiving a brief whine of alarm on his left, Banzai casted a quizzical glance toward Ed, as the other male had frozen on spot, and was sniffing the air in a way that could have almost been comical, had not it been accompanied by an intense expression of concern.

"What it is, Ed?" Banzai asked.

The other hyena just let out an expressive moan, while still glancing around him.

"Well what's up? What's bugged into him, now?" Timon muttered.

"A bug? Where? I'm hungry... " Pumbaa added, true to himself, while stopping in the middle of the trail.

"Shh..." Banzai replied in a whisper. "Sounds like we're not alone..."

Swallowing nervously, Timon gazed around. "I can't see a thing... Not sure it's a good thing or not, mind you..."

"Shut it!..." Banzai whispered back in mild annoyance, cautiously raising his head above the high grass that lined the path. First, the male hyena saw nothing unusual, partly blinded by the sunlight. And for a split second, he saw something else; an unnatural figure, standing out like a shadow against the fiery disc.

"_We're cuttin' out!_" Banzai bellowed, as a monstrous detonation shattered the silence. Timon yelped, nearly tumbling off Pumbaa's back.

"_Hakuna Matata, the problem-free philosophy? Yeah, fat chance!_" the meerkat moaned while his warthog companion darted off right after Banzai and his brother.

"Not often that your flair saves the day, Bro... Kudos!..." Banzai declared under his breath; Ed just laughed nervously... Behind them, Timon was clinging to Pumbaa's spine, shrieking with terror.

"Please, I don't wanna die!" the meerkat sobbed. "I'm just a poor bug-eating loser; and my best friend is a fat smelly pig to top it all!"

"Hey!" Pumbaa protested. "Smelly pig, perhaps, but fat, this is untrue! _Moreover, I actually feel lighter, since a few seconds..._"

Surprised, Timon blinked, and looked right behind him, suddenly struck with a terrible doubt. Zawadi was gone...

"Pumbaa... WE DROPPED THE LIL' ONE!"

Timon's scream forced Banzai to look backwards, and he stopped in his track, hesitating...

"I can see him!" the warthog exclaimed.

Zawadi had plummeted to the ground a few meters behind them, and seemed stunned... And right above him now loomed the menacing, hideously unnatural silhouette of the Human that had just been chasing them. When Banzai saw the creature lean forward and grab the baby hyena by the scruff of his neck, something seemed to occur within himself... Letting out a cry of horror in unison, Timon and Pumbaa were unable to make a move... For a time that seemed to stretch to eternity, the pair saw the Human lift the hyena cub in the air and in front of his face.

When suddenly, a darker shape flashed in their field of vision.

It was Banzai...

The male hyena advanced towards the Human, a savage growl birthing in his throat. The intruder looked down, staring in surprise at what he had always believed to be just a cowardly scavenger, and he then sketched a step back while the long metal tube he was holding began hanging limply at his side, before falling to the ground. But Banzai did not stop, and continued walking towards him, a rictus of uncontained anger revealing his formidable jaws. Yes, a change had occurred deep within him... Which one, he could not say; yet now he felt stronger than ever.

For the first time, the male hyena could perceive fear arising from the Human: it welled up from every pore of his shell, as he glanced about... Almost simultaneously, another growl was heard nearby, and Ed emerged from the high grass, in the Human's back, himself transformed into a fearsome beast. A whimper arose in the hot air; but it was not Ed's...

The human moaned as he continued to back away. Slowly lowering Zawadi back to the ground, he then attempted to side-step his way out.

Banzai didn't stop before Zawadi found himself directly under the male hyena's belly; then he glared up at the Human and _roared_. An actual roar, modulated and full of anger, escaped his throat. The reaction was immediate, and the Human turned around to flee; but it was without counting on Ed, whose jaws locked at lightning speed onto his foot.

The Human struggled feebly and still managed to get away, yet not without losing his left shoe... Then he ran off flat out, disappearing among the bush.

Later in the day, Banzai would come to wonder what exactly had happened during those few minutes... For a second, the male hyena thought about going after the Human, and make him pay a high price, but his wrath suddenly went down when he laid his eyes onto Zawadi. The hyena cub was still trembling with terror, his small paws crossed over his eyes as he was flattening into the ground. Seeing him, Banzai felt his heart melt...

"Come here, my lil' guy... Don't be afraid... It's all over ..." he gently whispered, lifting up the cub to hold him tight...

Timon and Pumbaa approached, contemplating the scene in disbelief.

"That's so not common..." the meerkat whispered.

"Ooooh, say, Timon; just take a look at that big lug..." Pumbaa added, cracking a wide grin.

"Yeah; it's... it's cool." Timon replied, smiling as well.

But Banzai did not hear them; his mind and heart were entirely focused onto Zawadi, as he tried comforting the frightened cub. Now that he held him between his paws for the second time, the male hyena was realizing how all this was coming to him naturally; and how adorable this little one was. Ed, who was still grappling with the shoe torn from the Human, finally realized the rest of his prey had disappeared, and just spat the boot back with a slight grimace of disappointment, before turning back to his brother; for the first time, the smile that crept over his muzzle at the sight of the scene was more friendly than psychotic... For several minutes Banzai continued comforting Zawadi, who gradually calmed down and fell asleep; then, finally realizing the presence of Timon and Pumbaa few meters away, the hyena male awkwardly cleared his throat, before handing the baby hyena to the meerkat.

"The lil' one's fine… uh, I mean, hmm... Watch out, next time!" Banzai mumbled, vainly trying to look angry. "Not gonna be always around to save your brat's skin, 'kay?"

"Thanks for him... Banzai." Timon answered with sincerity, gently depositing Zawadi onto Pumbaa's back.

"Yeah, blah, whatever..." the male hyena said with a half-smile.

* * *

Simba now walked alongside Kiara, towards the boundaries of his land, where the light and the dominant shades of green gradually yielded place to shadows and ocher tints... Although Kovu had expressed the wish to accompany them, Kiara had finally dissuaded him to do so, first refusing to put once again her companion's life at stake, and also knowing that his impulsivity would bring nothing good in what was to follow. Simba himself had remained silent since leaving Pride Rock; But the King's silence, far from concealing his nervousness, was actually revealing it, at least in the eyes of his daughter.

"_Is light worth any better than darkness if it is not shared by everyone?_"

The lioness' words were still ringing to his ears, and he knew Kiara was right, despite everything she ignored about the Pride's history. Simba had lived to see his kingdom threatened and his land almost devastated through his uncle's felony, and his soul still bore the scars of the past. Kiara, on the contrary, was foreign to all this; she was born long after these events, and had enjoyed a peaceful childhood, far away from the hassles of power, and among a Pride restored to its initial prosperity. But when prosperity became complacency, and when dignity was turning into mere arrogance, even the best of Kings started lying to himself.

"Their group is not far; they took refuge near the river that marks the boundaries of our territory." Thus spoke Kiara, although Simba barely heard her, lost as he was in his thoughts.

Yes, it seemed in the end that even kings could make monumental mistakes, and they were all to blame for their history: Ahadi had divided and condemned instead of sympathizing; Mufasa had tacitly accepted the facts; and Simba himself had been perpetuating their errors for years, blinded by his personal resentment... But evil engendered evil, and what happened today was, ultimately, the logical consequence of all that preceded. Slowly yet surely, Kings were causing their very own destruction.

They finally reached the hyena group. The predators were cramped on the banks, huddled against each other to try and reassure themselves on a territory that they knew were not theirs. The old Rafiki was there too, providing care for the wounded hyenas; the baboon had always been a fundamentally benevolent fellow, for whom all creatures deserved the same respect, regardless of their origins. He was currently applying a herbal poultice onto the bloodied shoulder of an old male when, raising his head, he spotted Simba.

"Aha! Mufasa's kid is paying us a visit... Things are taking an interesting twist, alright." He declared at the King's intention, uncovering his fangs in a stylish monkey smile.

Simba stopped a few meters away, Rafiki's obvious lack of reverence towards his royal person making him frown a bit... Then, for a moment, he let his gaze trails along the hyena clan nearby; and although he hated to admit it, the King himself couldn't help but feel pity for these refugees. Enemy or not, no animal deserved to suffer in such proportions.

"Where is the Matriarch?" Simba finally inquired with a sigh.

Rafiki merely pointed a finger over his shoulder, before returning to his task. A few meters away, Shenzi was facing the river, staring into space. When she turned around to face Simba, the first thing he noticed was the hyena's swollen abdomen; the King's look softened a bit, and it is only a few seconds later that Shenzi and himself dared look straight into each other's eyes. And both sank into a heavy silence… Old enemies looked daggers at each other, and yet they now discovered themselves incapable of feeling hatred for one another any longer...

It was the hyena who finally spoke...

"Well, talk about a surprise..." she mumbled.

"I surprise myself, quite frankly." Simba replied on a neutral tone, his tail beating his flanks as he glanced about. "What surprises me just as much is your presence here, however."

"Yeah, well, dontcha go thinking we're doing it willingly, Your Majesty..." Shenzi replied with a frown. "I know what you lions think of us, but it turns out we're far from stupid. If we're currently tresspassing on your land, it ain't because it makes us happy." The hyena marked a short pause, her eyes shifting to Kiara. "I s'pose your daughter filled you in?"

"She did." the King nodded, still on that tone of neutrality. Then, finally, the mask of impassivity he strove to maintain eventually faltered, and he sighed. "I do not expect you to believe me, but I'm sorry for what happened to your clan."

Biting on her lips, Shenzi looked to the ground, and found nothing to answer... The compassion that Kiara had showed her, and that the King himself now seemed to give her as well seemed so unreal, and especially coming from lions, that she was now feeling uncomfortable. She, who was accustomed to be despised and hated, and to be always on the defensive and wary even towards her own family, now felt helpless and powerless in front of these totally new feelings; and at the same time, wasn't she also appreciating them? At this moment, the hyena Matriarch was afraid to let her weakness show through, even though every bits of his being were compelling her to believe in the impossible, and to accept the sympathy of her longtime enemies.

"It's nice to say it, I guess ..." she finally mumbled in embarrassment. "Guess that's already more than I'd expect from someone I've wronged in the past..."

Simba shook his head slowly.

"It took me a long time to accept it, but it is not you who killed my father and usurped my throne." He continued. "Scar did it... By condemning your people to exile, King Ahadi has unwittingly given birth to a far greater evil than the one he claimed to cure... And then, Scar only had to bank on your misery to achieve his goal... You were yourselves abused and deceived, and the end, we all lost a lot."

"Don't ever tell me again about that one..." Shenzi muttered with a grimace of disgust.

"And considering what is happening in this very moment..." Simba sighed . "Well I suppose we are all concerned, regardless of the species we belong to."

"What can we do against Humans, anyway?..." Shenzi replied, shaking her head. "Just lower our heads and endure."

"It's true, there's not much we can do..." Simba admitted. "But doing nothing is not an option either. I learned it a long time ago." the King thoughtfully added after a while. "Therefore I will do my best to ensure the safety of your clan in these troubled times."

Shenzi stood motionless at these last words, as she discovered herself once again incapable of accepting such a possibility... The hyena had been expecting anything coming from a lion; _anything but this_... And indeed, a direct refusal would have been more convenient for her. In silence, Shenzi's eyes met Kiara's, the lioness giving her a nod and a slight smile in return.

The Matriarch stood silent for a long moment, before swallowing heavily, lowering her gaze to the ground.

"_Thanks..._" came the answer, a single word uttered on such a low voice that it could have been mistaken for a light breeze.

"Kiara is the one to thank." Simba replied calmly.

Intrigued, the lioness turned to her father, but she was cut short in her move by a sudden flapping noise right above her head. Surprised, Simba and Shenzi also looked up.

Zazu was hovering above them in small concentric circles, apparently in a panic. Another curious detail immediately struck Kiara, however: the tail of the bird, which usually was majestically feathered, was now reduced to a ridiculous stump.

"_Oh my goodness, oh this is a nightmare, a disaster, a cataclysm!_" the hornbill bawled. He then awkwardly tried and land at the King's feet, but he was in such a state of frenzy that he only succeeded in performing a highly ungracious crash-landing, his beak digging a furrow in the ground before he finally stopped right under Shenzi's belly...

Stunned, Zazu met the Matriarch's dumbfounded stare.

"Oh umm... Hello Madam..." the Hornbill mumbled while standing back up. "Do... Do I know you?..."

"Yeah, I guess so..." the hyena replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Pretty sure I know you too, birdie... Except for the plucked rump, that is."

"Hmpff!" Zazu let out with a frown.

"Zazu, what's going on? " Simba quickly inquired.

Blinking, the hornbill instantly returned to his previous state of panic.

"Your Majesty, I was looking for you! It is awful, atrocious, apocalyptic! " The bird shouted himself hoarse, while gesticulating.

"Calm down, Zazu!" Simba grew impatient. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's happening."

"What is happening? Your Majesty, The Humans are coming! " the bird yelped. "They are at least a dozen, with several of these deadly stick. See for yourself, I lost my finest feathers to them, and... Oh! Merciful Mother Nature! The prince! Kovu is alone to protect your Pride!"

Simba stiffened at these words, and Kiara's expression decomposed instantly... Shenzi let out a low growl...

"My son..." the King murmured.

In one leap, he turned away and began running, but stopped short when Kiara attempted to follow him.

"Father, I'm coming with you." The lioness said on a peremptory tone.

"No, Kiara." Simba replied, shaking his head. "It is my responsibility as a king, not yours."

"But Father..."

"That's an order, my child." the King interrupted. "Everything that happens today is indirectly my fault... If our kingdom must fall, I must fall with it. And then it will be up to you to rebuild and make up for the errors of our fathers."

The King ran off without further delay, leaving Kiara distraught.

"What have we done to the Great Kings to deserve such a punishment?..." Zazu moaned, grabbing his head between his wings.

"_What we've done..._" Kiara thought. "_We demonstrated arrogance and conceit; we have eased our conscience, yet we remained foreign to true compassion... The punishment does not come from the Great Kings. We, the living, have engineered our own destiny. And the dead themselves suffer from it today._"

Nearby, Shenzi stood silent and motionless, her eyes fixed on the empty space in front of her... For the first time in years, the hyena was experiencing something similar to remorse... She had grown and aged with the certainty that lions and hyenas could only be eternal enemies; and yet, in the space of a single night, all her convictions had been shattered... A lioness had spontaneously shown her consideration, and without asking for anything in return... And that same lioness now risked losing a lot, and partly because of her. In that moment, Shenzi felt a compelling need of acting, instead of enduring as she had done for years. She had to act, just like Kiara was acting in spite of everything; not only for herself, but also and especially for her unborn child, and her family; and also, no doubt, for Kiara.

"_Kiki._"

Kiara turned, facing the hyena; her eyes were filled with tears, but she remained silent.

"Come along... We're gonna save your Papa." Shenzi said with an encouraging smile.

"But ..." the lioness started, shaking his head. "Shenzi, you can barely run..."

"No stress. I got a plan, and I'm ready to take bets..." the hyena matriarch replied, her expression suddenly growing serious again. "Speakin' of which, you ought to know... Simba has not told everything about his kingdom..." she added with a sigh. "It is true that I took part in his father's death. So I reckon tryin' to save him is the least I can do today. "

Kiara kept silent, and merely shook her head again...

"Don't ya pull that face, Kiki... You were the one babbling about hope not an hour ago, weren't ya?" Shenzi replied. "I promise you we're gonna bail 'em out... I give you my word, even!"

Kiara sniffed and smiled weakly, moved by this mark of gratitude. "The word of a hyena?"

"It is as good as the word of a lion, I guess; but believe me, this is not gonna keep me from trying." the Matriarch said with a smile.

With a knowing nod, both spun around and darted off, notwithstanding Zazu's confused look.

"Good heavens! Your Grace, where are you going? Wait for me! I..." the old hornbill begged; but Kiara and Shenzi were already out of sight. "Oh, bother! Why am I always kept in the dark?" Zazu whined. He only noticed Rafiki's presence when the latter approached him from behind, unceremoniously palpating his blackened rump.

"Ow!" the bird cried...

"Huh-uh. Charcoal and saltpeter. First degree. Unsightly, but benign." the baboon answered, on a scholarly tone.

* * *

**_As things are about to reach a decisive conclusion, can Kiara and Shenzi save Simba and Kovu from a certain death?_**

**_And above all, will lions and hyenas finally leave the past behind to look forward to a brighter and common future?_**

**_Find out soon in Light For Everyone's Epilogue : A new Dawn._**


	7. A New Dawn

**_Epilogue : A New Dawn_**

* * *

When the few lionesses who were lounging in the sun after their hunt eventually felt the presence of the Humans in the immediate vicinity, it was already too late; a series of detonations shattered the silence, mowing them down, and plunging Pride Rock into chaos.

In his den, Kovu instantly stood up on his feet, on alert, and quietly peeked outside; from his position, the lion could not see their attackers, but he knew all too well what was to expect... The nightmare was beginning anew, and this time, the Humans were breaking hell right within the sacred territories he cherished.

For long seconds, confronted to an eventuality that revived his deepest fears, Kovu only had one idea in mind: to flee, leaving the Pride to its fate, and to try and find Kiara to ensure that she was alright. And once again, Scar's voice peremptorily pervaded his mind.

"_Do not even think about it, you moron._"

"Scar..." Kovu begged. "_If ever you had any affection for me, it's time to prove it... Help me._"

"_Keep your prayers for the dead kings that you spend your time invoking, you wreck._" Scar growled. "_And now, listen to me... All my life I've had to put up with your weakness and your pusillanimity; and it goes on even now that I am dead... But from now on, this will change_."

"_But what can I do?..._" The young lion replied with uncertainty.

"_What can you do? Finally accept that your real father is Taka, the one who should have reigned unchallenged._" The voice continued. "_You must show Simba that this kingdom is now yours, and that you will fight for your right. Prove the King that you are ready to die for the throne, and that you are not afraid of anything; not even him._"

"_My kingdom ... My throne. Yes_... "Kovu nodded.

"_I see you finally become intelligent... Better late than never, I suppose._" Scar replied with a satisfied chuckle. "_Now go, my son. Fulfill your destiny, and remember... Whether you like it or not, I shall always be there._"

"_And it is a burden that I am ready to wear, if only it can help me save our future._" Kovu added in thought, while Scar's voice returned to nothingness. All these years he had enjoyed a comfortable life among the Pridelands, away from the concerns of the outside world, and it had always seemed to him nothing would ever threaten that perfect happiness. But now, Kovu realized how selfish he had been, and what it really meant to be king; it was not a privilege, but a duty. And thus he would fight for the survival of his Pride, even though it might mean endorsing Scar's savagery; he'd rather die, or worse, be consumed by all that rage, rather than live with the burden of guilt and Kiara's reproaches.

In silence, Kovu walked out of his den. Outside, he could still hear the detonations produced by the Humans' sticks, yet with each of these shots, it was not fear, but rage that slowly pervaded him. Just nearby, one of the Pride's huntresses appeared.

"This is not good, my Prince." the lioness gasped. "They've reached the foot of Pride Rock. We already lost two of our huntresses..."

"Gather the others, and take refuge in the common den." Kovu replied, trying to keep a composed expression.

"My Prince, we will be trapped inside, if..." she replied, shaking her head.

"Fleeing is not an option." the young lion firmly said. "Stand your ground. This land is ours; if we die, we die protecting it, and myself first. Put yourself to safety, I will try and hold them back."

Impressed by Kovu's words, the lioness complied in silence, and hurried to find her hunting group and guide it to the den's uncertain safety. Kovu then hastened to the foot of Pride Rock.

Among the high grass surrounding the promontory, the lion finally saw the now familiar silhouettes of the Humans. Their rapid advance had now led them only few meters from the common den, and they seemed to mark a pause; one of them was holding something in his hand, which attracted Kovu's attention: a glowing thing that was crackling and emitting a plume of smoke... He only realized the true nature of the object a few seconds later, when it was thrown towards the brown and withered vegetation that dominated the area... In the space of an instant the high grass around were set ablaze; an acrid smell immediately rose in the air, while other incandescent torches were thrown to the ground, drawing a circle of death around Pride Rock.

Kovu froze on spot, feeling an intense wave of heat travel to him.

"_Kovu!_"

Simba's voice rang nearby, and the young lion vaguely distinguished his King's silhouette on the other side of the wall of flames.

"Hold on, son! I'm coming!" Simba replied, crouching; Kovu saw him leap over the fire, flames licking his abdomen and scorching his coat. Simultaneously, a sudden movement among the Humans caught his attention, and he felt a shiver travel down his spine.

"_Father! Watch out!_" Kovu roared.

There was another one of those deafening detonations, and for a split second, Simba seemed to shrivel up in the middle of his leap... A roar of pain arose from his throat as he heavily crashed on his side. Approaching him, Kovu noticed with a growing horror the reddish stain that was spreading over Simba's shoulder. The King looked up at him with glazed eyes...

"Leave me... Run, son." Simba whispered through clenched jaws.

"Never." Kovu retorted.

"It is an order, Kovu." the King growled.

"_Then I shall disobey you for the first time in my life, Your Majesty._"

Turning away with a roar of rage, the young lion faced their attackers, interposing himself between them and Simba. Resigned, he closed his eyes when he saw them raise their strange sticks.

"_Farewell... Farewell, Kiara ..._"

Such were his last thoughts as he expected a final explosion of pain.

But it never came...

_After long seconds, Kovu opened his eyes again, like in a dream._ _On the other side, the Humans had suddenly froze on spot, and were now looking around with a tangible fear... And the lion himself could feel something, not only in the air but also under his paws; for the ground had suddenly started vibrating. It was like an earthquake, deafened and rhythmic, albeit still distant but more and more noticeable as seconds passed..._ _Soon, the vibration turned into a rumble that went up intensifying till it muffled the roar of the flames themselves._

Kovu first saw but a cloud of dust rising from the east... A cloud so thick that it temporarily occulted the sun itself; but it was not a simple storm. Behind the opaque curtain, the young lion could now see a huge mass of indistinct dark bodies, horns and hooves, which roared and seemed to move as a single individual. Behind Kovu, Simba straightened painfully and stood motionless, paralyzed by this strange feeling of _deja vu_ that awakened memories buried since his childhood; memories of furious mooings, and stamping comparable to the sound of thunder; memories of an unspeakable terror in front of the wildebeest stampede, followed by a desperate flight along the canyons, and the terrible prospect of being trampled to death by the distraught ungulates...

But it was not towards them that the wildebeest were running... And that is when Simba and Kovu distinguished two silhouettes through the dust; a lioness and a hyena... They were running side by side in the middle of the herd himself, channeling its inexorable trampling towards the periphery of Pride Rock, where the Humans stood.

At the sight of the demented herd, their group dissolved instantly. More stumbling than actually running, the human horde scattered in every directions with cries of terror, from that moment bent on putting the greatest possible distance between Pride Rock and themselves. Less than two minutes later, nothing remained that could had ever indicated their presence around.

Still running at full speed, the herd of wildebeest veered towards the swollen river that bordered the northern border of the Pride Lands. Collecting himself, Kovu returned to the King's side, helping him stand.

"It's alright... I'm fine..." Simba reassured him with a grimace of pain. "The others... Lead them away from the fire."

Spotting a gap in the circle of flames, Kovu helped Simba get away, before evacuating the few others who had taken refuge inside the den. As the last member of the Pride finally reached the safety of the bush on the other side of the fire, the flames had already started licking Pride Rock's middle ledges, engulfing its lofty form in a burning chaos.

Simba and Kovu looked at each other, too shaken to speak at once; then they uttered the same name at the same time, a dull anguish suddenly clutching them.

"Kiara..."

* * *

The last of the wildebeest had already reached the opposite bank when Kiara emerged at the surface of the river; gradually, the stampede's rumbling became more distant before dying. The worried lioness glanced about, not seeing Shenzi anywhere; then the hyena herself surfaced among the currents a distance away from Kiara, panting.

"And you were worried stiff, eh?" the Matriarch said with a giggle.

Smiling in return, Kiara reached the bank, followed by the hyena.

"Geez; I may be up to the spout, but I sure can still run!" Shenzi added, snorting.

But a grimace of pain suddenly distorted her face, and the Matriarch collapsed on her flank with a hoarse groan. Kiara's smile faded instantly, and the lioness rushed to support Shenzi's head. The hyena looked up at her with glassy eyes where anguish and pain cohabited...

"_Looks like time's up…_" Shenzi moaned. Her forelimbs were clenched on her abdomen.

Kiara swallowed uneasily. "What must I do?" She asked.

"I dunno... And it doesn't look good..." the hyena replied in a sob. "I'm afraid of losing it..."

"I'm here. Everything will be fine." Kiara replied softly.

"Kiki..." Shenzi whispered, shaking his head. "Look at me... I'm just a failure, I ain't capable of doin' anything right..."

"_Don't you say that._" Kiara replied vehemently. "You're going to be a mother, and you will a good mother, I'm sure... You carried your child during all this time, and I do not think there is a fight tougher than this one."

For long minutes, which seemed an eternity to Kiara, the bank resounded with Shenzi's screams of pain.

* * *

When Kovu and Simba finally came in sight of the river, they saw nothing but a devastated landscape. Here and there, shrubs had been uprooted and now littered a ravaged ground of mud and grass, that had been itself trampled by the infuriated wildebeests. Dust and hair ripped from the fleece of the large ungulates were still floating in the air. A little further away, the river banks themselves bore the stigmas of their passage: entire swathes of them had been torn off, and swept away by the currents.

The previous night's storm, and now the infernal pounding of thousands of hooves had left but rubble and destruction in their wake. Limping some distance away from the bank, Simba stopped to contemplate the damages' extent with increasing anxiety. But his real concern was a different one, and thus he hardly noticed the hyena clan arriving on location almost simultaneously, preceded by Rafiki. The old baboon casted a glance around, as if searching for something; then he frowned, approaching Simba with a worried look.

At the sight of the hyenas, Kovu's mane bristled, and the young lion let out a guttural growl, his eyes fixed on the horde of predators... But Simba immediately ordered him silent, shaking his head gravely.

Just above them, a shadow hovered in circles, and Zazu landed nearby... The hornbill was silent for a few seconds, before dismally shaking his head.

"Your Majesty... I'm sorry. Your daughter... Her Grace is nowhere in sight..." the bird whispered on a stained voice. Then he sniffled and turned his gaze towards the river's muddy waters, which ended in a tumultuous cataract far below. Rafiki himself let out a long sigh, and lowered his head, his eyes closed, while his simian lips murmured a silent prayer for the two lost lives...

For a moment, Simba's face twitched strangely, and he lost himself in the contemplating of the roaring straight below them. Finally, after a long moment of nothing happening, the King envisioned the worst...

Without blinking, Simba shed silent tears. In this moment of supreme affliction, the lion was no longer aware of his surroundings, nor the stings of pain in his injured shoulder, nor anything other than one single thing : the loss of his child, in front of which Power, the Great Kings, and even the Circle of Life itself suddenly seemed so void and meaningless. And perhaps had they always been...

At his side, Kovu himself wept silently. He had been reunited with Kiara only to lose her again shortly after, and this time forever. The Pride was saved, but his companion had also paid a high price. Now, nothing else mattered.

It is at this precise moment that Banzai and Ed joined their group, followed closely by Timon and Pumbaa... Strangely enough, none of them really reacted to Simba's presence, let alone the rather surprising fact that lions and hyenas were now so close to each other without showing hostility... Except maybe Banzai, who was not long to realize that something grave had occurred. In silence, the male hyena stared at his clan's members, and felt his heart sink upon noting that Shenzi was not among them.

"Where's my mate?" He asked one of male subordinates. But the other merely looked down sadly.

With stiff movements, Banzai covered the distance that separated him from the bank where the two lions stood. Turning his head to the male hyena, Simba gave him a misty look without really seeing him. It was Rafiki who truly noticed his presence, and he slowly shook his head.

"_I'm sorry. I am so sorry._" the baboon gloomily murmured.

Beyond the bank rumbled the dark waters of the river, and below roared the cataract. Further ahead extended the devastated landscape, where nothing lived any longer.

And thus reality befell Banzai with the raw violence of a stab in the heart: Shenzi, the one and only person for whom he had ever felt actual empathy, was no more.

Banzai spoke not a word; no cry, no roar of anger or revolt escaped his bowels, as he was now beyond all state of anger or revolt. He just flattened himself into the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Just like Simba, he no longer seemed aware of anything, except perhaps the dreadful emptiness that now pervaded his soul.

Nearby, Ed sensed his brother's sorrow despite his limited intellect, and he immediately went to lie down at his side, whimpering sadly. A few meters away, Timon and Pumbaa themselves gloomily contemplated the scene. Sniffling, the meerkat grabbed the tail of his warthog buddy to wipe his eyes, while the latter noisily blew his nose in the grass...

In silence, Simba faced them, his gaze alternately landing onto each. Off in the distance, the mighty Pride Rock, from atop which generations of kings had ruled their subjects, was no more than a blaze from which arose a dark plume of smoke. Once again, the Pridelands were in mourning; yet, this time it was a common pain which was bringing together two communities that complacency, ignorance and prejudice had, over the years, drawn against each other. And despite all that he had thought to know on their account, the King now realized, to his surprise, that even hyenas had a heart, and loved their families just as strongly as lions. Thus, faced with this new awareness, Simba felt culpability pervade him... All these years, he had considered himself wise and insightful, yet he had remained deaf and blind to what being King really meant. And now Simba was shedding tears, not only from the grief caused by the loss of his daughter, but also for having remained foreign to the compassion Kiara had understood so well.

"_Kiara... May you forgive me, my child..._"

And suddenly, among the torn shrubs and trampled grass, something moved, as if in response to the King's silent prayer. He first saw but a vague golden reflection stirring in the middle of the ravaged landscape; then, gradually, two figures became clearer in the distance...

Kiara and Shenzi were walking side by side; the lioness was supporting the Hyena Matriarch, and proceeded with caution.

Seeing them approach, Simba's heart missed a beat, yet it still took him almost a minute to react. And when two females marked a pause some distance away, Simba realized something appeared changed in them ; he approached them with growing wonderment, for these two beings seemed to irradiate more light than anyone else around, despite the brownish layer of mud covering their fur.

Rushing to his daughter, the King embraced her, shedding tears without restraint.

"Kiara, my darling... I thought I had lost you forever." He whispered, the ghost of a laugh floating amidst his sobs.

"I'm alright, Father..." the lioness replied with a faint smile, before laying her eyes onto Kovu; Sighing, Kiara approached him and rubbed her cheek against his mane.

"Come on… You know grown boys don't cry, you big lug..." she softly whispered into his ear.

Raising his eyes, Kovu froze for a moment, then smiled tenderly. "Oh. I just… had some dust in my eyes, that's all..." the young lion replied, pulling Kiara against him. "I always knew you'd pull through, my Love... I never doubted you..."

Purring, the lioness further pressed her muzzle into his mane.

"No joke." she whispered with a chuckle, before turning her attention to Simba.

"I'm sorry I've worried you, Father... I could not let Shenzi down the very moment she was about to honor us with a new life."

Intrigued by his daughter's words, Simba turned to Shenzi.

"A new life?"

It is only then the King noticed the baby that the Matriarch was gently holding between her jaws, and a curiously tender smile appeared onto his face. Kiara herself smiled in turn; forever stronger than death or adversity, the Circle of Life thus transcended up to racial barriers, to touch the heart of all its children without distinction, and against all odds.

Always smiling, Simba stepped aside to grant passage to Shenzi, and the hyena slowly approached Banzai, who was still sobbing on the ground.

In silence, Shenzi put her child down between her front legs, and chewed on her lip, her eyes setting onto her companion. In front of his distress, the Matriarch's heart sank, and she experienced another moment of anguish and remorse; remorse for all the times she had humiliated him, and anxiety for having almost lost him this time.

"Geez, Banzai... You look awful..." Shenzi sniffled, bringing her paw to her companion's cheek, and gently wiping his tears. At the familiar voice, Banzai shuddered and looked up; he first distinguished but a shadowy figure through his misty eyes, but then he quietly chuckled amid his sobs.

"You look awful too, Shenzi..." the male hyena replied with a faint smile; for a moment, the two stared at each other in silence, still too shaken to dare utter a single word; Then, they hugged tightly, at the same time laughing and weeping profusely.

After a while, Shenzi gently pulled away; still smiling, the Matriarch opened her legs, revealing her daughter to Banzai... Overwhelmed by emotion, the male hyena froze for long seconds... Now that he was contemplating his newborn child, he had the impression that an incredible ecstasy was arising within himself; it was an unprecedented feeling, an impression to be bathed in a dazzling and gleeful light; it was a degree of happiness he had never experienced so far in his life... Just nearby, Shenzi suddenly hugged Ed vigorously, and the other male returned the embrace with a gentle laugh; a distance away, Timon and Pumbaa were themselved smiling to each other with delight, like two old friends who would suddenly meet again after an eternity of separation.

Unaware of the sudden joy that seemed to have seized everyone, Banzai continued to contemplate his child, tears rolling freely down his muzzle.

"I'm so sorry... I should have been present, when you..." Banzai whispered to Shenzi, sniffling.

"Don't say that..." Shenzi reassured him with a smile. "You've always been there, Banzai..." Pausing, she looked down again, casting a glance full of tenderness upon her daughter.

"_Kheri..._" Shenzi whispered after a few seconds.

Banzai smiled back: "_Joy_"... That was a good name... Yes, a very good name for a brand new start. It was like being born a second time, and his soul felt as new as on the first day, completely eased from the burden of bitterness and frustration. He once again felt in control of his life, and now, he wanted everything and everyone to be as happy as he was.

Eyeing Timon and Pumbaa, the male hyena looked down at Zawadi, who was still sound asleep on the warthog's back. Then he turned his attention to Timon, and both stared at each other at length. Finally, the meerkat gave a hint of a smile where a tiny note of sadness hovered, and he nodded slowly; approaching Zawadi, he gently stroked the hyena cub between his ears, before lifting him towards Banzai.

"Come on, Daddy..." Timon whispered.

Banzai smiled. "Thanks, dude... You're a helluva guy, you know..."

As he faced Shenzi, Banzai had another brief moment of hesitation when his companion's eyes landed onto Zawadi ... Did he have the right to do this? And would Shenzi be only willing to be a mother to a child that was not hers? But the Matriarch just smiled at the sight of the sleeping baby hyena. Encouraged, Banzai gently placed Zawadi between her paws.

"_Are you sure you want to... I mean..._" he whispered.

Shenzi interrupted him, shaking her head with an air of seriousness. "It's time to learn and leave the past as it is, Banzai. It's time to grow up and stop acting like teens." Marking another pause, Shenzi looked down at the two baby hyenas huddled against her stomach, and she crossed her paws over them. "I don't want my kids to live what we lived... I just want peace for them."

Pumbaa blinked in consternation, and turned to Timon.

"What, Zawadi won't stay with us?" the warthog asked.

"Well, you know... It's better for him to grow up with his own family, I think. Plus, I ain't quite sure bugs would be the best stuff for him." the meerkat replied, placing his palm against his porcine friend's shoulder. "Anyway, we'll be always around if he needs us, eh?" He then added in a more joyful tone.

"Ok then!" Pumbaa concluded, cracking a smile. "I missed being an uncle, buddy..."

"Tell me about it, mate!" Timon added.

In turn, Simba approached the group. Smiling, the King let his kindly gaze hover for a moment over this newly reunited family, before fixing his attention on Shenzi. Feeling Simba's glance onto her, the Matriarch herself looked up; both stared at each other in silence, hesitating...

A few meters away, Rafiki contemplated the scene, in expectation; after a moment, he slowly walked towards Kiara, and bobbed his head.

"They would like to go towards each other, but they lack the heard to do so..." the baboon whispered... "_You who Hear... Be their mediator. Show them the way..._"

The lioness smiled, well aware of the deeper meaning of these simple words; in silence, she stood between her father and Shenzi. Lifting Simba's paw, Kiara did the same with the hyena, before bringing them together.

"It is time to move forward... for all of us." the lioness murmured, her gaze landing successively on the King and the Matriarch. "We may not change the past, but it is possible to transform the future; it is never too late to start... from now on."

Simba and Shenzi remained themselves silent for a moment, staring at Kiara...

"You saved me, and my son Kovu..." the King murmured at the Matriarch's address.

"Kiki saved us all, Your Majesty; I reckon she's the one we gotta thank first and foremost..." the hyena replied.

"_You saved yourselves_... And it's time for you all to leave the darkness... and to return towards the light." Kiara added with a smile.

The King gently smiled in turn, his gaze falling onto Shenzi's children.

"These are beautiful little ones..." he went on. "As beautiful as a sunrise on our land."

Shenzi smiled back; a smile which, just like those few words, said much more than any further speech... Beyond a new hope for the hyenas, it was also a new start that was offered to her; she now knew that, from the beginning, a force had been dormant within her; a force ready to help her do good, but that the torments of her existence had almost choked over time. But now, the Matriarch no longer wanted to ignore that potential nature had given her, for today and for tomorrow, and for her children to inherit a world worthy of her love for them.

Once again, Simba looked back to Kiara, a glimmer of regret in his eyes...

"My darling... Your actions have taught me more in one night than all the philosophy of our fathers since my birth; I thought I was infallible, and you showed me the errors of my ways when I allowed my past to blind my judgment. Kiara, I beg you to accept the apologies of an old king." the lion whispered.

Kiara smiled in encouragement, before pressing her muzzle into Simba's mane.

"You are worthier of my respect than you've ever been, Father." She answered. "_Worthy of your throne and our ancestors, Your Majesty._"

But the King shook his head slowly.

"And thus, it is with a light heart that I transmit you my duty as a sovereign, my Daughter." He whispered. Blinking, Kiara tried to protest, but Simba continued on the same soft tone. "No; do not say anything... You proved that you are more than worthy of it, Kiara. This kingdom is now yours."

At his feet, Zazu gave him a shocked look.

"Your Majesty!" the old hornbill piped up. "With due respect, it is totally improper! You may not proceed to a royal enthronement without respecting the etiquette! We must first convene the royal council, and observe a period of adequate deliberation, and..."

"_Geez, you're just as backward as myself, Banana Beak..._" Simba replied with a sigh of exasperation. Then he smiled at the bird, shaking his head. "The new era of peace that is about to begin will be for the young, Zazu; but for the old lion that I am, it's time to stop chasing vain fancies, and to rest."

"Oh, well... In that case..." Zazu admitted with a sheepish smile.

Nodding, Simba casted a long glance around. "It will take time to learn and coexist anew." He added at Shenzi's address. "But we will help each other."

"Kiki showed me stuff can change when you least expect it... We're gonna make sure it changes for the better..." the Matriarch replied with a smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty... From the bottom of my heart!"

Rafiki himself then approached them, a little bemused smile brightening his simian muzzle.

"Well, my friends, today's a beautiful day, I believe." the baboon said, looking between Shenzi and Simba as he placed his old tanned palms on their backs.

Nearby, Kiara suddenly lifted her head and glanced about, as if suddenly enthused by an imperceptible change in the atmosphere; the lioness let her gaze trail in awe and wonderment, along the grassy steppe and arid canyons that led to the Elephant Graveyard... The sun was slowly breaking though above the desolate area, as a song seemed to arise from its depths; no longer the painful song of captivity Kiara had previously perceived in mind when encountering the specter of past matriarchs; but a chant of freedom, bright and joyful, where a thousand voices were merged into a single choir. Neither Shenzi, nor Simba could hear it, judging by the curious look they addressed Kiara... Mayhaps the soft murmur that reached her ears was but a breeze; and yet...

"_We are one..._"

Nature breathed, and the Circle of Life was already healing its wounds, as it always did. The tormented souls, trapped into the Elephant Graveyard, could finally find the way to the Light, and the timeless rest they had for so long sought in vain; a mother was finally reunited with her daughter, and Those who Waited could now depart Time and return to Eternity. In part unaware of the soft tears that slowly rolled down her cheeks, Kiara continued to contemplate this unseen spectacle that filled her with a wonderful joy in spite of herself. The sunlight raining down onto the Elephant Graveyard was as a warm and benevolent as a smile, and the lioness mused on how small they must all have seemed, seen from the Stars...

Not far, Kovu himself smiled in delight... Perhaps he could also sense that something happy was chanting into infinity. Or perhaps that was just, quite simply, the joy of having been reunited with his companion.

"_Son, you have been remarkable._"

In spirit, Kovu then turned his thoughts towards Scar's voice, which now seemed increasingly distant. By now, the future King was no longer afraid of his origins. This force was his, and would be what he would do of it.

"_Thank you, Father._" Kovu mused, finally discovering himself capable of feeling respect for his ancestor. "_You helped me see the truth._"

"_No. You've helped yourself. Always remember one thing, Kovu: true power is not to be received; it is to be taken._" Scar replied on a tone of confidence. "_And although I may not approve of all your choices, I now know that you'll be a King who will make himself respected. And, I do think there's a form of redemption for me in all this._"

Kovu sighed...

"_Don't leave too far... Taka._" He thought. "_I did not want to admit it at first, but ... From time to time ... I might need your presence at my side._"

"_The fate of the living belongs to the living, Son. It is time for me to rest..._"

The voice seemed to recede further, before ringing one last time. "_But you may bet that I'll never be far._"

Shaking his head as if to himself, Kovu turned his attention back to Simba, while Scar's voice turned silent anew, sinking with delight in its own part of peace, for the first time since his death.

"_And you, Your Majesty ... You have brought me so much too. I respect you for this... But that throne is now mine._ " Kovu mused. "_And I will be even greater a King than you've been yourself._"

But Kovu was soon enough pulled out of the flow of his thoughts by another voice, which rang to his ears like the sweetest song, bringing him back to the world of the living; a world of shared happiness, of budding friendship, and prevailing love.

"Daydreaming again, my Prince?"

"Oh, well, I was pondering Father's decision..." Kovu replied with a chuckle. "Geez... King of the Pridelands, that's quite the responsibility! Do you think I'm up to it?"

Kiara giggled, and rubbed her cheek against her companion's muzzle.

"All words as always, you big lug..." the lioness replied. "_With so many faults, you will be perfect, Kovu._"

The lion said nothing, merely giving her a small embarrassed smile.

"But beyond kinghood, do you think you will be up to fatherhood?"

Kovu blinked.

"_What?_"

And Kiara fell silent in turn, for words themselves were now redundant; she merely grasped her companion's paw, applying it onto her abdomen, and the future life that secretly throbbed within.

"_This_." the lioness simply said with a knowing smile...

* * *

**_And thus ends Light For Everyone, my first attempt at a Lion King fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it down. Reviews are welcome and appreciated !_**


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